Under The Black Forest Flag
by Overwatch Trooper 12
Summary: What if Ooarai lost the finals? What will happen to all the other Tankery practicing schools and what will the future bring from that downfall? A Girls und Panzer allegory based off of Nazi Germany during World War Two and how it's totalitarian government heavily impacted the world and the countries that it fought against.
1. Chapter 1 - An Unpredictable Future

**INTRODUCTION**

* * *

The Tiger I advanced into the abandoned school area as it chased after Miho and her teams Panzer IV. The Ooarai's Tiger P followed close behind and slid its hull to a twist at the front entrance of which both of the sisters went storming through. As the rest of the Black Forest team closed in, the Tiger P kept on continuously bouncing off enemy shells till its armor finally gave way to its weak spots.

Meanwhile, in the turns and corners of the abandoned school, Miho's team came to an open square. When they were beginning to turn for a slight corner, the team noticed Maho's tank pulling up right in front of them.

"There is no running away in the Nishizumi-style." she paused, "We both have no choice but to end this here."

"I accept your challenge." Miho replied firmly.

A brief moment of silence was between them. Then, the Panzer IV bolted pass the Tiger I and back into the winding curves and turns of the alley. Back on the outside, the other Black Forest teams began to ponder on how to get past the broken Tiger P that blocked the front entrance. However, after minutes of trying, they finally got through and began to pursuit their leader.

By the time they got there, a large cloud of dark smoke had engulfed the square where the two sisters were fighting. Everyone held their breaths and waited for the smoke to clear to see who the victor was.

The white flag emerged…The Panzer IV was out…

Suddenly, a voice came over the loudspeaker, "All of Ooarai Girls High School's vehicles have been eliminated! Kuromorimine Girls High School is the winner!"

The sight and sound of this message caused the teams of Ooarai to let out an outcry. A few teams, including Rabbit Team, were sobbing, while others like Turtle and Hippo Team were discouraged and disappointed, with the exception of Momo crying aloud.

I can't believe this." Anzu murmured, "We actually lost."

"After all that hard work and strategy, we have been defeated." Erwin said crossly.

"Indeed, it's a sad day for us." said Cesar.

Miho poked her whole head out of the tank to only see the sight of her sister staring back blankly at her. The other girls of Miho's team opened up the side hatches and looked behind themselves to see the white flag waving back and forth. They all faced each other in a state of shock and sadness. They all knew what was going to happen. Erika and the rest of the Black Forest Peak tanks pulled in and surrounded the two incapacitated tanks.

"Ha ha!" Erika laughed triumphantly, "Once again, we are victorious!" boasted Erika to the other girls behind her.

Maho turned her head and swiftfully faced her Vice Captain with irritation.

"Erika please…"

Turning back to her younger sister, Maho noticed her siblings face downcasted.

Later that day, all the teams were transported back to their schools holding areas. All of Ooarai's teams were in a state of remorse. Miho and her team pulled up on a truck carrying their destroyed Panzer IV behind it.

"Umm… Hello everyone." Miho stuttered, "I have some bad news."

"Yes, we know you do." replied Anzu in a low tone.

Miho fell silent, until Yukari broke into the conversation.

"I know everyone is sad, but we must all try to come together and think for a moment. Is the whole school getting closed down or just our Tankery team?"

"Both I'm afraid; our council double checked the documents the night before the games." Yuzu answered.

Momo stepped forward, "It also appears to me that you don't remember what I said about everything closing down."

"This is completely unfair!" Saori and Hana bursted out in anger.

"I know it is, but what can we do? There's not another fundraiser thats coming up to collect enough money for our entire school." Momo said disappointed.

"It's all over." Mako finally spoke.

Everyone stopped and turned towards her. A group of girls walked up to Miho and her crew. In their hands was a large paper written in Japanese. One of the girls handed Miho a pen.

"Please read and sign this." she said coldly.

"Why? What for?" Miho asked.

Anzu looked at the paper over Miho's shoulder and began to read it to herself silently.

"No, this is unfair." Miho said shaking her head, "There must be another option."

Then, the student council stepped up to Miho and her crew.

"That means that our only opition is this." Anzu grimly responded while holding out an Anglerfish Suit to Miho. She felt a shiver go down her spine when she learned about the truth of the future.

"I thought that this was a one time thing?" Miho said in confusion.

"We must give them a show if we are not going to fully agree on their terms."

Realizing the pit that they were in, she accepted the suit and walked away. Hana, Yukari, Saori, and Mako did the same once they obtained their suits. Afterwards, so did all the other crew members. Later on that evening, Anglerfish Team and all the others teams performed their dance on stage. Miho noticed many of the girls from the other schools in the crowd giggling and pointing, causing Miho's eyes to start tearing up.

"Stay focused my friend, it'll be over soon." Hana panted heavily from across the way.

Miho took note of this and tried to take her mind off of the audience, but she always had trouble doing so. After that was finished, the Kuromorimine High girls were called up to take the Sensha-do flag of victory. While on stage, Maho looked outward for her sister, but couldn't find her in the sea of heads.

"I really thought that Ooarai would win." said Orange Pekoe to Darjeeling.

"I thought so too my friend… I thought so too…"

"Well, they still fought long and hard and I really think they deserved to win." Kay said to Alisa and Naomi.

"However, the Kuro forces proved once more to be the victors." Alisa replied.

Naomi only answered back with a nod of approval.

"This can't be, after they've destroyed that Maus, how could they lose?" Katyusha squeaked aloud on top of Nonna's head.

"Unfortunately, that just had to happened." said Nonna.

"It's not fair, though." Katyusha bursted out again almost falling off of Nonna's head.

Just before the sun setted on the blurry horizen, everyone began to return to their destinations and head homeward bound. Maho Nishizumi, with victory flag in hand, walked next to her mother, with the rest of the Kuromorimine team behind them.

"Your performance today seemed to have lacked from my expectations." said Shiho, "However, you still have prevailed."

Maho remained quiet. Though she has indeed won the Championship and restored a prideful title to the Nishizumi Name, something inside her kept saying, "Why couldn't it been me that lost instead of my sister?" She decided to ignore it and continue thinking about future thoughts.

* * *

**-UNDER THE BLACK FOREST FLAG-**

**BY: OVERWATCH TROOPER 12**

**RATED: FICTION T**

* * *

The next day, word got out all around the school about Ooarai Loss and that the school, with very little money left, will be closed in about a month or so. To prepare for the worse, Ooarai's school board has decided to shorten classes and start auctioning off the schools tanks as soon as they could to get money in. As the days go on, no serious progress was made.

"I'm surprised that none of our tanks have been sold yet." said Saori to her friends.

They were sitting on their Panzer IV looking over the latest recordings that they have received from recent training.

"They're all probably waiting for a good price on the high value ones." Mako suggested.

"Oh no! Theres no way that they're taking MY panzer!" Yukari shouted while hugging the nozzle of the cannon.

"Oh don't feel so alone. We all feel the same." replied Hana.

"Besides, all of our tanks are going soon, not just ours." Miho added.

Then, from across the way, the main hangar doors opened and a large transport truck with a trailer came inside and parked near the Tiger P. The Automotive Team was told to get out of the cockpit that they were tinkering with and go with Ami Chouno and the men in the truck. The Tiger P was then transported away.

"Well, there goes the first of many tanks." Mako said in her usual depressing tone.

The others were stunned silent. They had no idea who or what was next.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Incoming Pay

As time passed, more and more problems began to sprout up at Ooarai. The amount of funding towards the school had fallen to a dangerously low rate, yet no one has yet tried to make an effort to change it. Meanwhile, in Kuromorimine, at the Nishizumi Household to be more precise, Maho was standing out in the front courtyard when Kikuyo walked up to her.

Kikuyo was the Nishizumi Household maid. She was a middle aged woman who was fairly quiet and always polite, following any orders that was given to her by Shiho Nishizumi. She was also always devoted to assist others when they asked her to do something for them and liked to solve conflicts in anyway that she could.

"What's the matter Miss, you look troubled." Kikuyo asked to Maho.

"Oh, it's Miho. I can't seem to get her or her school out of my head."

"Does it have to do with something about the fight a week ago?" Kikuyo asked.

"Yes." she confirmed, "I'm always wondering why it couldn't have been my school that lost and not theirs?"

"I would expect…" she paused for a moment," Actually, never mind…"

"No, what's wrong?"

Kikuyo swiftly shifted her head towards the direction of the hall.

"Mistress, is that you?" she asked.

Nobody responded.

"Huh? What was that about?" Maho wondering while removing her cap from her head.

"I just wouldn't expect to speak much about this while your mother is home, but since she appears to be absent, we can talk about it now if you want." said Kikuyo.

Maho began to talk again, "I feel this way because though I've won the tournament, I have prevented Miho from perfecting the Nishizumi-style her own way."

"She may have not won the tournament, but I admit, she has played well and she might have already found it?"

"Hmm…I see." Maho thought hesitantly for a moment.

"You don't always need a victory to be perfect at something. You just need to put all your might into it and see if you prevail."

Maho's face lit up slightly after hearing this, but she still remained silent. The Nishizumi Maid smiled as she patted Maho on the shoulder and began to walk back inside. Before she entered into the hall, the woman stopped briefly and turned her head.

"You also could call a rematch, just to let her gain back her self esteem." said Kikuyo, "Remember that one match back when you were younger."

Maho paused for a second to try and remember what she meant. As this happened, someone was at the front gate and Kikuyo went to answer it. A minute later, two men walked by. Maho watched as the two men and Kikuyo walked by her into the manor. Figuring that the conversation between them and Kikuyo was private, she waited for them to go down the hallway before leaving the courtyard. Elsewhere in the house, the three continued their discussion.

"I had no idea that this had happened." said Kikuyo in shock, "I heard about the situation from last night but I didn't know that she was part of it."

"She is and it is very likely that she will be locked away for awhile." replied one of the men.

After the conversation was over, Kikuyo quietly led the two other men out. With curiosity, Maho walked over to the pale faced woman.

"That was police." Kikuyo sighed.

"What did they tell you?" asked Maho

"The Mistress is in jail."

Maho was blown away by the response. To think that her mother, of all people, was stuck in containment for a crime. Miles away, in the cities main police headquarters, Shiho Nishizumi was pacing back and forth in a cell with a another woman.

"I have never seen you this excited before. What caused you to get such thoughts from?"

"Time and plenty of new incoming ideas." Shiho answered while continuing to pace the perimeter of the cell.

"Sounds interesting." commented Shiho's cell mate.

"Very and I think that this information is going to change the way people think and act. Honestly, I think this concept will truly blossom within a matter of months."

"Maybe you should tell me a little bit about this?" insisted the other woman fetching a nearby pencil and piece of paper.

"Precisely. That is why I have come to the conclusion that I will write a book based on these ideas!"

The words that were spoken puzzled the other woman, "A book ma' am?"

"Indeed, it will be one about thoughts on a perfect school system, in which academics and the Nishizumi-style would combine together to create one big great education idea! Many will become so interested in it that I think that they would want to join in and support it as well. Combined, the Nishizumi School will become the greatest it has ever been." Shiho said as she began to settle herself down.

"It seems that you have a lot on your mind for the moment miss, should I let you be so you could think this over?"

"No." Shiho suddenly answered, "I might need some more ideas and references, perhaps you could help me and write down what I say?"

"If you insist, miss." bowed the cell mate.

As she started writing notes down, she kept thinking to herself why Shiho would go out of her way and make a book straight out of jail.

Early morning was beginning to dawn upon the mainland. Miho and her friends were walking to the Tankery Cake Cafe when they noticed another heavy load truck driving in the direction of the Ooarai ship.

"Looks like another one. What vehicle is going to be collected now?" Hana wondered.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." said Mako trying to stay conscious.

"Oh come on now! Cheer up!" Saori bursted out happily.

Miho only smiled when she saw this.

"Beside's we're going to eat at our favorite place." said Yukari.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Mako muttered back, "I still can't believe you woke me up at 6:30 in the morning for this."

"Maybe the sugar might wake you up?" Miho said, "They have breakfast specials there."

Mako didn't respond back, instead she only grumbled to herself while trying to not let her eyes seal shut again. When the five got to the front entrance, they noticed a couple of things that were out of the ordinary. First, the restaurant was closed until 7:30 later that morning. Secondly, it appeared that the prices have sky-rocketed up higher (In yen of course, I might be wrong in my currency prices coming up, so give me some slack).

The sample menu in the window showed that a small sized tank cake went from 500 Yen (5 Dollars?) to almost 2,000 Yen (20 Dollars?). The most expensive one went from 2,500 Yen (25 Dollars?) to a whopping 5,000 Yen (50 Dollars?). The girls were shocked at the prices that were in front of them.

"Whoa! What happened to the prices?" Saori shouted out.

"They have gone up in the amount." Mako said pointing to the menu, she herself was shocked too.

"I only have 500 Yen on me, though." Miho said grabbing the only money she found in her small handbag.

"Guess that means we don't have enough?" Hana suggested.

Her friends all nodded, sad that they couldn't afford something at their favorite place. Mako turned around and walked back home on her own. Her friends all watched in silence.

"Do you guys want to go over to my place?" Yukari asked.

"Sure." Miho smiled.

While all of them strolled alongside each other, Miho noticed the prices for a hardware store and saw that the prices for the products there went up too. The same was for a jewelry store and the same for a bicycle renting place.

"I'm seeing other places getting expensive too." Miho softly answered.

"Ooarai is closing soon, so maybe people want more money before they have to close?"

"I don't like talking about it." said Saori, "It gives me butterflies everytime I think about it."

During the time, many other schools have begun to hear of the financial crisis that was occurring on Ooarai. Many of them began to think about what might become of the school once their currency runs dry. In some of the richer schools, a speciazed funding program was put up to try and send money to support the dying system of Ooarai. The program was called the Ooarai Genkin Saikuru Keikaku and it was proven to help the financial disaster for both the students and staff. Out of the different schools that supported this, Saunders was the only ones who gave out.

"Fighting this school year really hit us hard." spoke the Head Mistress of Saint Gloriana's Girls Academy to the Principle of Saunders.

"We have given you support for a while now and you know that its best for all of us to contribute."

"Kuromorimine, though..."

"Ooarai will be funded, in which you too will be funded."

With hope that it will help put a hold on the financial occurrences in Ooarai, the two schools allowed the plan to become function. Two months later, back aboard Kuromorimine, Shiho has finally finished writing her book and has been released from jail. She decided to have it published earlier than she anticipated, in order to get more purchases faster. During this time, Kikuyo watched with fascination. She thought about telling Maho about her mother's new book, but she decided to wait until Shiho told her about it herself.

A month or so later, Maho was scanning through the shelves at a local bookstore when she noticed her mother's face on a book cover. Reaching for it, she was treated to the title of the book, which spelt out the words, "WATASHI NO TOSO - SHIHO NISHIZUMI. Following the events of this book and the events happening aboard Ooarai will come something much more sinister…


	3. Chapter 3 - The Downward Spiral

Aboard the Ooarai school ship, Vice President Yuzu Koyama of the Student Council was shuffling through a couple of things in the old student council storage room, near the offices, when she found an unusual box in the very far end of the room. It was a long dusty cardboard box that had a label that dated back many years ago. It had never been opened before and was still taped down on the top.

In fascination, she brought the box out and showed it to Anzu Kadotani, the President of the current student council and Momo Kawashima, the other Vice President of the student council. The two were looking over papers for the Tankery Team when they were disturbed by Yuzu and the box she was carrying.

"Look at what I found back in the storage room." Yuzu said placing the box on the ground.

"Could someone get me a box cutter please?" asked Momo bending down and fixing her glasses tightly on her face.

When she received her tool, she sliced through the tape on top of the package and undid the flaps. Inside, the three saw an out of the ordinary emblem for Japan with the Ooarai wording over it. It was of a fierce black eagle in front of a large yellow shield. The eagle's beak and talons were both sharp and red and its left talon was holding a tank turret while the right was holding a tank shell.

"Where do you think this came from?"

"It's obviously made for the school; it has the name on it." Anzu pointed out and took the large emblem out of the box.

"Should we show this to everyone else?" Yuzu wondered.

All three looked at each other in question. Minutes later, Miho Nishizumi and her crew were brought into the room. They were first greeted by the giant emblem that Yuzu and Momo were holding up for show.

Yukari and Saori both blurted out, "Wow! That's really creative, did you make that?"

"Surprisingly not. I just found it buried in the back room." said Yuzu pointing to the door with her thumb.

"It looks like a coat of arms?" Miho mentioned, "Many schools around her have a traditional coat of arms themselves."

"That's because it is one." a random voice answered from in the hallway.

Turning around, the crew saw Erwin standing in the doorway. Riko Matsumoto (nicknamed Erwin) was a girl dressed in a tan army coat and wore a officers cap on her head. She was always well known by everyone around for being a source for military knowledge and tactics and she is the Commander for Ooarai's StuG III Tank Destroyer. The girl stepped into the council office to inspect the seal when Momo came forward and stopped the capped commander in her tracks.

"We are dealing with a very important piece of business at the moment. Please leave!"

"My friend, I'm only trying to help you." Erwin returned.

"You were not called in by us were you?"

"No." Erwin replied while having a closer inspection on the emblem.

"Oh, please don't be so harsh on her; she's only trying to help us." Hana added.

"Well, it looks like a good concept but I see a lot of loopholes in the idea." said Erwin to the others.

"What are you talking about, Matsumoto-Chan?' asked Miho.

"It seems like a good idea for the student council to decide upon. Why not make Ooarai free?"

"No! Out right now! It's none of your business!" Momo shouted while pushing Erwin out the door.

Before the captain got the chance to speak again, Momo closed the door behind her with a loud and forceful slam.

"That wasn't very nice." Saori said frowning and stomping her foot on the floor.

"Yeah she's part of the tankery team too." replied Yukari.

"That's not the point-"

Momo was interrupted by Anzu who was putting the emblem back into the box, "Now, now, my friends. Let us return back to the main reason for why we called you here. We need you to send around the word that we're going to try and get permission for this to be our schools new icon."

"Yes and its best that…What?" Yuzu suddenly stopped, "Wait a minute, that seems ridiculous. How can we possibly achieve that?"

"Oh, we have ways." Anzu said sitting back in her chair and placing her feet on top of her desk.

All the other girls in the room became silent at the sound of this and there was a hush. Just as expected, the school mentioned the old Ooarai seal to the high officials and soon the symbol began to appear all around the school's grounds. Talk was heard about a new kind of student council being set up in the school, one that consists of many different ideology's yet work together to make Ooarai a better place for everyone.

Months earlier, word had also gotten out that some kind of conflict was occurring with Anzio Girls High School. The schools tankery team was shaken in disarray following the events after the lost against Ooarai that resulted in them unable to show themselves at the finals between Kuromorimine and Ooarai. The schools Sensha-do team became unstable over the fact that they had lost "Special Promises" after losing and were soon demanding a reform.

Their schools current student council was labeled "Unpromising" and "Unreliable" for the well being of an Anzio Girls High student. They were also blamed for the problem with a low school budget and how they were practically broke. The results made the whole student body split into two groups, each group with a different idea for how the school was to be ran. One of the groups was under the orders of a girl named Francesca, who was known to have high GPA and had an excellent work ethnic, but was very shy and unambitious. The other group was under Anzio's current Sensha-do Team Captain, Anchovy. She was the polar opposite of Francesca, in which that she was more arrogant and had a strong will to win.

When the time came, the school decided to call a vote to elect one of the groups for control of the student council. However, Anchovy decided to use a different tactic, trying to use fear to scare the students into voting for her group instead of the other. She even went as far as letting her group members threatened the other students into thinking that the student council under a free voting system was weak and will result in what Ooarai was facing at the moment. In the end, the technique was successful and Anchovy and her group members were able to take the spots in the student council.

"Now that we are in control, we decide now what is right and what is wrong!" Anchovy said triumphantly, "Our strength in Sensha-do, our schools funding and our academics will become the greatest it has ever been!"

Over time, the girls from many of the other schools began to think about their own student council systems and wondered if their lack of support was what caused their schools tankery elective to falter. Meanwhile, Pravda Girls High School was beginning to have these similar thoughts. Among all the girls that were there, Katyusha saw this as her opportunity to rise up and show herself superior, even with her small size. With the success of this, she made large promises with the other students and performed "helpful" deeds for the community. She even caused a girl to leave school because of her victory in the voting, even though it was rigged from the start.

Another school system that also approved these idea's was a girls academy called Chi-Ha Tan, who decided to partake on this similar concept. However, unlike the others, their council system was set up to be lead by a group of girls, instead of just one and her supporters. They were also very willing to win in the next Panzerkraft Tournament.

Reading about all that has happened that week about about the schools, Shiho Nishizumi thought deeply to herself about this and took this as her chance to improve how Kuromorimine Girls High School could be ran. She wished to see a few changes happen with the Black Forest Peak Tankery Team and the other students that didn't participate in Sensha-do. Even though she was only Kuromorimine's Panzerkraft Instructor, she thought about how she could advance up the educational totem pole to become a high priority in the system.

Maho, at this point of time, was already through a majority of her mother's book. She recognized the fact that her mother kept on using repetition in her sentences and repeated phrases in her paragraphs. A few examples were the lines:

* * *

"The most valuable traits of the Nishizumi School are victory and strength, advancing without hindrance of emotions and achieving victory without failure!" Not a single inch of sympathy must be shown to the enemy! This is a sign of emotional weakness and must be avoided at all costs. You must prove to the others that the Nishizumi-Style is superior overall. You must also help in the great movement to expand its sphere of influence to other parts of the countries and to other schools that are not involved already in this wonderful movement."

* * *

All this time, Kikuyo was watching from the hall and thinking about what things might be in Shiho's book, but she decided to try and find out at a later date. She was curious and wished that she could read it too.

Then one day…Disaster struck…

Saunders was in shock over the event that happened on the ship. The school has apparently lost money within itself and due to economic problems on the Japanese Mainland, had an investment problem bigger than they could handle. Yen had to be cut in order to save themselves, but the system was too slow to control the downpour. Most schools bought some, if not most of their parts through Saunders and the effect of the collapse changed all that completely.

What seemed to be a controlled environment for money in Ooarai turned into a devastating outburst of problems (though the plan with Saunders was no good already). The school's student council couldn't handle the amount of problems that are being thrown at them through the adults. Parents began to get worried and even started to transform their children to other schools with more money that could handle the drop. No matter where they looked, though, the financial situation was waiting for them there. The selling of tanks in Ooarai's Sensha-do team began to pick up again and even other school electives began to disappear from sight.

In the middle of the madness, Miho and her friends saw all the other teams' vehicles being rolled out of the garage one by one every few weeks. Just before summer, the Panzer IV was the only tank left in the whole school. The armored side plates that supported it against Black Forest a few months before were far by long gone and sold and the gun was sold as well. The engine, fuel tank and its other components were sold off as well; even the treads were sold for some kind of money too. The only thing left on the Panzer IV was the tracks wheels and the body itself.

"It looks so different without all its parts." Miho said.

"It looks like one of those dead tank bodies that you find in scrap yards." Yukari added.

"Well…we tried our best to win the tournament." Saori said hoping to cheer the others up in some way.

"I know we did." Miho sighed.

"I hear that parents are moving their kids out of the school." Mako said.

Hana gasped, "Oh dear, I'm glad that we're all still together."

"If we ever get moved though, where would you go for next year?" Saori suggested to her friends.

"I don't know? Where would you go?"

"Me? I'd probably want to go to Saint Gloriana's. Their tankery program is not that bad." Saori said.

"I like the sound of Maginot; they sound like a pretty equal school." Hana added, "How about you Mak…"

"Don't ask me. I have no idea where I'm going." Mako groaned.

"Alright then…How about you, Yukari?" Hana asked again.

"I have my eyes on a couple. I like Saunders the most. My second choice would have been Koala Forest."

"How about you, Miropin? Do you have any idea of where you would want to go?"

"Uhh…I'm not quite sure just yet." she shyly replied.

In her mind, she already had an idea of where she would go but she was too worried to admit it. The Iron Cross emblem seemed to glow in her brain and the name of the home that she originally departed from in the first place seemed to come back to her again. Miho's face became downcast.

"What's the matter? You look a little pale." Hana wondered.

"Oh…I'm just a bit tired, that's all." Miho said with a small smile.

There was a long pause before Miho's eye flashed opened. She stood up and turned to the others, who were waiting for a response.

"I'm going to Kuromorimine!" Miho blurted out.

Her friends all turned their heads in surprise and let out of a loud gasp.

A few days later, Miho decided to contact her family back home and see if her return to the household was necessary or not. She was fearful about the response and wondered if it was even a good idea in the first place. She decided though that it was worth the try. She wrote a letter to the Nishizumi Manor asking for acceptance back into the family and Miho also gave reasons for how she could help the home. All she had to do now was wait for an answer.

When the letter got to the Nishizumi Residence a few days later, Kikuyo received it first while walking around the garden. She brought the letter into the house and began to read it to herself. When Maho finally got home from school, Kikuyo was at the door to greet her.

"Welcome home, Lady Maho. How was your day?" she greeted happily.

"It was fine, thank you." she smiled.

"I received a letter today from your sister." Kikuyo said to Maho.

An expression of interest came across Maho's face as she placed her things on the ground near the door. She hasn't heared from her younger sister for months and was curious to hear what Miho had to say.

"May I read it?" she asked.

"Sure, let me go get it for you." Kikuyo answered.

While the Nishizumi Household Maid went to collect the paper, Maho waited patiently in the hall. A moment later, the front door opened up behind Maho's back and Shiho Nishizumi stepped into the front room.

"Mother, your home early?" Maho welcomed with surprised.

"Yes, I am. I decided to end work early today and…"

Both of them saw Kikuyo walk into the room with the letter from Miho in her hand.

"Madam, your home early." She said.

"Yes, I am. What is this you're handing me?" Shiho asked receiving the letter from Kikuyo's hand.

"It's a letter from Miho-san, Madam."

Shiho immediately tightened her grasp on the letter. She read it to herself for a while and then folded it and began to walk away.

"Miho wishes to return home, eh? Hmp, I see."

"Mother? What is the matter?"

"I shall make my decision tonight. I must not be disturbed for an hour." she ordered.

She walked into another room and closed the door. Both Kikuyo and Maho were silent for a moment before walking away. Just like she said, Shiho was out an hour later. She had a piece of paper in her hand with an envelope as well. Cautiously, she placed the paper inside the envolope and sealed it tightly.

She looked in the other room and saw nobody in the den. Shiho went outside and saw Kikuyo standing alone at the front gate. Hearing footsteps behind her, Kikuyo turned around to see Shiho walking up to her with the envelope in her left hand.

"Please take this to the postal." she ordered.

"Yes, madam." she answered while walking to the car.

"Do you know where Maho is?" Shiho asked over the rattling of the engine.

"In her room, I think?"

The two departed from each other. With only a few days of school left before the summer, Miho got the letter in the mail. When she noticed that the letter came from the Nishizumi Household, she got goose bumps on her skin. While reading the message, tears began to well up in her eyes.

"My mother says I've committed…heresy?"

Miho finished reading the last lines to herself, "She has also disowned me?"

She dropped the paper and watched as it drifted slowly to the floor near her feet, "Where am I going to live now?!" she wept aloud.

The rest of the day was long for her. Miho overheard that Ooarai was closing very soon and that there was a possibility that a majority of the Ooarai students were going to be transfered to Kuromorimine anyways. Her friends were even receiving hurtful messages in the mail and online about their failure to save the school. Later that evening, Miho snuck out of her dorm and walked alone into the schools bathing chamber, wearing an Anglerfish suit she managed to sneak out. Putting it on, she began to cry to herself.

Overwhelmed she said, "So, this is me. There's no home for me… I have no money, no job and no protection…"

There was a long silence before she opened her eyes.

"Who am I?" she quietly asked to herself.

Stepping forward, she intentionally slipped on the wet ground and fell face first onto the concrete bath edge. Her head hit the side and split down the middle, allowing her head to spill a dense red fluid into the hot waters below. She emitted a small scream as her body rolled into the water and floated lifelessly on the surface. The water around her began to turn red as the lights above powered off automatically. Silence filled the air as Miho Nishizumi was no more.

The next day, a few of the students went into the room for a morning bath, when they noticed something weird floating in the water. Screams sounded seconds later as the girls ran out in terror. Everyone was awoken by the sound, for it was still still early in the morning. Staff and other students went to investigate the scene. Miho's friends were among the many. Later reports also showed that a few other students had committed acts of suicidal intention the night before as well, leading to the theory that something terrible was happening on campus.

When the day came, Miho's funeral was prepared. Everyone watched as a beautiful coffin was set into a grave. Among the many people were Miho's friend and their parents. Shiho watched silently, without uttering a single word while everyone else cried. When summer arrived, all the inhabitants were evacuated off the School Vessel and the Ooarai ship was sold a few weeks later. The details about where the ship was sold to was unknown, but many people thought that another school vessel had purchased it earlier that month.

These things will pave the way for what unfortunate events will come next...


	4. Chapter 4 - New Year, New Order

Only days after Miho's funeral, the whole Nishizumi Household was silent. What was left of the family, including Maho, Shiho and Kikuyo were affected entirely by the death of the youngest daughter. Shiho was seen less often and mostly sat alone in her study, doing things that the other two were unaware of. Most often, Kikuyo was cleaning around the mansion while Maho was busy attending her school work.

When the Kuromorimine school vessel was anchored for the summer and when she got the opportunity to, Maho went out of the household to wander around her home city of Kumamoto, seeing some of the sites that she hasn't visited yet or ones that she already had.

On one of those days, she would occasionally see Erika. The two would often rest and talk about the events that are happening in not only their lives, but also about the lives of others.

"Your sister's death seemed so sudden; do you know what caused it?" Erika asked curiously.

"From what my mother has told me, she was told that it was an accidental death." said Maho thinking back to the past.

"You don't suppose that she… possibly…" Erika hesitated to talk on.

"What?" asked Maho turning her head to her Vice Captain.

"You don't suppose that she wanted to die on purpose, do you?"

Maho didn't answer to the response. She didn't want to think about the topic regarding her deceased sister any further.

"Kommandant?" Erika asked.

"Please forgive me." Maho shook herself from her daze," I dozed off for a second."

The two looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." Maho said beginning to walk away.

In Erika's mind, a slew of thoughts began to race around, "Is she really that depressed about her sister? No, don't think that way. She caused your school trouble that year before and caused you to lose at those games."

Her thoughts turned from question to anger, "Yeah, besides, she decided to abandon the family way of her's for a life of freedom. She brought that Ooarai school of hers down to its knee's and caused it to lose as well! It's all her fault not my Kommandants!"

She continued to think as she walked away. When Maho returned home, she immediately knew something was wrong. Kikuyo was standing firmly in the next room with a stern look on her face. A second later, Maho saw her mother walk quickly by with a tall glass bottle in her hand that had the appearance of a hard liquor. Shiho didn't even acknowledge that her daughter has came home, she only walked into her dark study and closed the doors. Maho stood frozen at the door for a moment before walking to her room, wanting to ignore any sort of business that she didn't need to be in.

Later, Maho came out of her room. The time was around 5:30 PM and the house was all locked up for the night. Wandering into the den, she saw Kikuyo sitting alone, deeply thinking about something. She looked up and noticed Maho looking at her from the hall.

"Good evening, Lady Maho. How are you feeling?" Kikuyo greeted, "I have some news to tell you."

"I'm fine thank you." she replied, "Do you know why mother looked more strict than usual today?"

"Apparently, she's been under a ton of stress since poor Miho's departure."

"Aren't we all." Maho whispered to herself, "Well, I noticed that she had a bottle of..."

"Ah, yes, you've noticed. I suppose that she was drinking for a reason but I don't know why." said Kikuyo.

"Is there anything else that you have on your mind?" Maho asked.

"Yes, your mother and I have talked a little bit about work and she told me that she might get a possible promotion."

"A promotion, for what?"

"She didn't tell me all the major details but she mentioned her movement upward on the educational branch."

"Really?" Maho said in surprise, "I never heard her tell me that yet."

"I guess this is a head's up for you then, for what's coming up next?"

"I suppose it is." confirmed Maho, "Looks like we'll have to wait and see."

"Now I think it's time that I go check on your mother." Kikuyo said getting up from her chair, "She hasn't come out of her study for a while now and I better check on her."

Maho waited for a while until Kikuyo returned. When she did, Maho asked how Shiho was.

"She's sleeping right now, we best not disturb her."

"Alright." Maho nodded.

The new school year began much earlier that the previous year, but then again, summer started early three month's ago. As usual, most schools looked forward for another year of teaching new students, but all the schools were anxious to welcome any new students from Ooarai. Unlike what Anglerfish Team had predicted in the past, the choice of school was not given to them to decide. Instead, they we're chosen at random, which upset many rather than pleased.

Over the summer, the idea's of Shiho's book had spread like wildfire. Though many of the schools' Sensha- do programs support the idea's of Shiho, many others denied it, wanted to keep the old ways of Sensha- do the same. One of the sections that displeased many is the line that she states, "The current system of tankery has been flawed numerous times by many officials. If the Nishizumi-Style is to be perfected as a standard for all those participating in Sensha- do, it must become clear that the current form of conflict in the system must be dissolved. I propose all those who favor these thoughts to encourage others to follow them as well and to spread this to those who discard this information..."

Through legal matters, Shiho was successfully promoted and was ranked up higher within the Kuromorimine school system. However, she felt that she needed to rank higher. Within the educational system, the current head-mistress of the school had steeped down from her position unexpectedly and now the district was hiring for a new head-mistress. Seeing this as her opportunity, she applied along with many other women with her high level of educational performance and with her high teaching credentials.

When the final results were reveled, she was very certain that she would win. She did, and her first order of business was to change Kuromorimine.

"Kikuyo." she called for the Nishizumi maid one afternoon, "Do you have any sort of degree in education?"

She thought for a moment.

"Yes, I do." Kikuyo answered.

"I need you to offer for an occupation that I'll support you in."

Kikuyo's face brightened. She never had a second job before but she expected it to help her when harder times come. She agreed and Shiho told her how to succeeded in the interview.

Shiho began to put rallies and assembles on every Friday so that she could communicate with the students, besides through intercom. At the same time, Kikuyo offered for the job on Kuromorimine's fundraising company and thanks from the charismatic support from Shiho, she was given the position.

Kikuyo's wardrobe changed from simply maid robes to maid robes, professional business suits and expensive clothing, bought by money that was given to her by Shiho and the school board. When conflicts arise on campus, she was able to put an end to it thought clever thinking and persuasive speech.

"Pravda puts on a better school march than we do." a student complained to Kikuyo one day, "I feel like we're not as strong nor as tough as they are."

"Never underestimate the power of this school." Kikuyo responded,"Pravda is simply wanting to bring down your enthusiasm and self-esteem. Remember, just like Mrs. Nishizumi says, this is the work of the enemy and you must show the enemy that your better than they are in all ways possible."

"Your right! I will go out and inform my friends about this!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

Kikuyo smiled as the girl walked off, at the same time, she noticed Maho walking with Erika behind her and she turned to talk with them.

"Ms. Kikuyo, you look good today." Maho said in a tone that didn't let Erika know that she's their family maid. She also gestured to Kikuyo's black suit and red tie with a Black Forest Peak emblem on the tie.

"Thank you."

"Very professional and showing school pride, something I favor." Erika commented.

"You girls looking forward for this years Sensha- do tournament, it's starting in two weeks?" Kikuyo asked.

"Most certainly, our vehicles this year have been improved since their performance last year." added Erika.

"Yes and we hope that we can start a new winning streak for our school." said Maho.

"With the kind of force's that you have, I'm positive that you'll dominate all in the years to come." Kikuyo said, trying to raise her voice to a level of excitement.

The bell rang for the next period to begin. The three went their separate ways. Meanwhile, in Shiho's office, the blinds at the window and on her door were shut, except for a little bit of light shining from a crack in the window blinds. She was sitting at her desk while a good ten to twelve other girls stood in front of her.

"Girls, I know that your group is meek at the moment." Shiho's tone was stern if not a little grim sounded, "I assure you that with the new students coming in this year that you'll get more support."

"The manner of law and obedience must be kept in order to show how our campus is superior to others." a random girl in the group said.

"Indeed, now who is in charge of this group?"

"I am ma' am." another shorter girl said stepping forward to the front of the desk.

"Are you new to our school?" asked Shiho.

The girl nodded, "I have had experience with this in the past and I can handle most of the student conflicts that come my way."

"Sounds true according to your record here."

"Very well, you girls have your daily orders, go forth and enforce law and order for our school, in the name of Nishizumi." Shiho instructed.

The girl, who was answering Shiho's questions, turned around and faced all the other girls behind her.

"Alright, you heard her, lets go."

The light of the sunshine coming thought the opening blinds revealed the face of Midoriku 'Sodoko' Sono, the past member of Ooarai's Public Morals Committee, now the leader of the new Kuomorimine Civil Administrative Forces (KCAF).

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**Author's Note: Just a remind, if you think you have discovered the events of the ****story line, either keep it to** **yourself**** till the Fanfic is finished or tell me through PM.**

**P.S. I just now learned about the Horizontal Line Divider.** **I feel so foolish...**


	5. Chapter 5 - Rising Conflicts

**Author's Note: Now, I know a few of you are wondering why this is before the story. Well, I'm only writing this ahead of time to inform you all about the senior characters in the story. After reading a few other Fanfic's, I've noticed that they've used senior students in their stories, that takes place** **after the anime, so I figured that no harm will come to me if I used them in my story, that takes place a year after the anime/manga itself.**

**Also, I made this chapter long so I could hold you guys over for a while, I've got a ton of school projects coming up and I might not be able to get another chapter out for a while, but I'll try my best to write up the next chapter as soon as I can.**

* * *

With only a week left before the Sensha- do tournament begins, everyone has been preparing for the big event. A handful of schools have been observing each others progress in the purchasing of vehicles, to decide whether or not to purchase more themselves. As always, Saunders remained the school to have the highest vehicle count than all the other schools, while Kuromorimine and Pravda followed close behind.

There was conflict rising up from different schools also, many cases of this are just to show how more powerful one was to the other. One example was coming from Chi-Ha Tan, who decided that picking a fight with another school outside its general sailing area was a good idea. Then went as far as getting aboard it and causing trouble with the students and locals.

Aboard Kuromorimine, security was beginning to tighten. Shiho's goal of having a one grouped student council was finally complete and now she led many students to follow her goals for a perfect school system under the name of Nishizumi. The students in the council started to spread out and sent voluntury's outside the school to tell about the idea's of the school's spirit to the rest of the ship's population. Money was coming in for the schools tankery team and for all the other electives that were found on campus.

The number of new members of the KCAF have multiplied from 12 to almost 30 or more. They walked slowly and cautiously around the campus, sometime in groups other times solo, with their eyes scanning the school grounds with suspicion. Their school uniforms were covered by jacket's and they all had strange armbands that had Kuromorimine Civil Administrative Forces in Japanese writing on it with a tiny Black Forest Cross on the top piece of the armband.

When a situation started up between a KCAF Agent and another student, it would start out and end usually with a low tone of voice. Sometimes though, the argument would turn into a scene where the KCAF Agent would start to yell at that student, resulting in the oppressor changing their mind. It made many students think twice when getting into a situation with a girl student of the KCAF.

On Friday before het weekend, Shiho called all the students for an assembly. Outside the door to the auditorium, Kikuyo was seen putting up posters of Shiho with the silhouettes of students cheering in the background. On the posters, written in Japanese said, RULE AND CONQUER! Maho and Erika sat in the front row with the rest of the Sensha- do team.

"I can't wait to hear what Mrs. Nishizumi has to say to us." Erika said to her friend.

"Yes, me too." Maho said back.

Once everyone was inside and settled in, the doors to the hallways were closed by a teacher and a KCAF student standing at that door. The assembly began with the schools marching band playing the school's anthem, only the anthem was different that the older one. After this, Shiho came forth on stage towards her audience and the whole chamber filled with excitement. After everyone has calmed down and the auditorium has grown quiet, Shiho Nishizumi began:

"Students, I feel that it is my duty to pass on the wisdom that I've acquired over my years of teaching. I must ask all of you a question."

She turned her attention to a large group of students in the front rows pointed to them.

"You. Kuromorimine's Sensha- do elective. Do you all know whats coming up soon?" she asked.

One of the girls in the crowd was given a microphone to respond back to Shiho's question.

"This years tankery tournament." the girl said in return.

"Correct! It is you girls, that will deliver us to victory! It is you girls that will show true strength! Finally, it is you girls, who will spread word to the other schools and show an example to others that Sensha- do and a teaching environment under the Nishizumi name is best."

A round of clapping and cheering filled the auditorium, and when Shiho raised her hand up, the room completely grew silent again. She took a few steps off the stage and closer to the audience. She was accommodated by a KCAF girl at side side.

"Now, many of you have probably been to our school library since the year started, and I'm sure your teachers have made you borrow plenty of books from there. Well, even before I became Head Mistress, you've all probably seen and maybe even rented this new book, that's been seen on the front window shelf for sometime." she raised her book above her head.

"A summary of this book, tells about the future for not only our own school, but also for the other schools that stand in the way of our superiority. There's something that this school has that all the other ones don't and that's the knowledge that we are the most elite of all tankery teams and with a little more effort, we can become the most highest in all of Japan. Many decades ago, Kuromorimine has been the start of a long line of acceleration young minds that have served a great purpose towards our country. To this very day, that line is still moving in all academics from Home Economic's to Cooking to Tankery and even to all General Educational Courses. As you can see, we are surely not to fail, with the a little more support and plenty of fresh minds ready to learn, we as a school can achieve many wondrous things!"

"Rule and conquer, students! Rule and conquer!"

The audience began to cheer and applaud again. Then it grew quiet again when Shiho raised up her hand and returned to her point on stage.

"However, with a dream of become the most powerful and most highest of all the other high school's, comes an antagonist. A threat that will try and stall our cause, to allow the others to gain the lead. It has taken me about two years of studying and many more years of examining to understand the interference of our duty."

"It can be summarized into two word's: Slackers and the Feeble Minded!"

All the girls in the vast audience began to whisper to one another.

"The Slackers and the Feeble Minded are the problem. When these people are removed from the picture, only then we can accomplish our goals for a..."

Maho, who was in the very front row of the audience raised her hand.

"Yes, student, what is your question?" Shiho asked.

Maho responded in a worried tone, "What do you mean "Feeble Minded"? I don't really understand what you mean?"

"Pardon me for not making myself clear. Yes, this girl here asked a very good question, and that is what are the Feeble Minded? The answer is very simple: Those you would rather think that teaching a softer more feebler way is better than being taught with authority and disciple. This also goes to anyone who's had learning difficulties in the past."

A shiver shot down Maho's spine at the sound of the response. She remembered what she told Miho in the past about finding her own Sensha- do and also remembering Miho's stress after losing to Pravda that match. Maho thought that in Miho's old room back at the Nishizumi Manor, she saw a bandaged teddy bear in a dark corner, but thought nothing of it.

After hearing her mother's speech, she started to wonder again about her younger sister.

"Also students, here's something that we must all remember. Me and some of the other teachers will begin, starting tomorrow morning, issuing out the new rule sheet to the classrooms. It will explain all further rules regarding school hours for now on. Now remember my dear students, work your hardest and show your best and I can assure you that we will trample all those who oppose us!"

"Rule and conquer, students! Rule and conquer!"

After another round of loud applause and chanting of the rule and conquer slogan, Shiho exited off stage as the marching band played the new school anthem once more.

When the students were let back to their classes, Maho lost Erika in the crowd of people. When she wasn't looking, Maho accidentally crashed into another girl, both of them fell to the ground. Looking up to see who she ran into, Maho was surprised when she noticed the familiar face of Yukari staring back at her.

"Uhhh...hi..." Yukari addressed nervously.

"Hello" Maho said back.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to run into you."

"No, it's fine." Maho replied.

An awkward silence fell upon them as the area began to clear up.

Erika came forward,"Maho there you are, I lost to you in the..."

Erika grew quiet when she noticed Yukari staring back at her.

"What is she doing here?" she frowned, pointing to Yukari.

Yukari slowly began to back up from the two but Maho came forward.

"Leave her alone, what has she done to you?"

Erika opened her mouth to say something but then decided not to.

"Should we talk later?" asked Yukari in a serious tone.

"Of course."

The three then departed from each other in a hurry, as the final bell was about to ring. Later that day, the two girls met at Maho's dorm to continue their discussion.

"So, I never really knew who you really are. It's a pleasure to meet you though." Yukari smiled holding out her hand.

"Sure." Maho agreed, shaking Yukari's hand.

"I've never thought that your ship was this big. I imagined the same as all the other schools."

"Well, we have a lot of money as a school, and our community is very helpful. I can expect that we get plenty of support from outside the school." said Maho.

"Back from where we come from, our school relied only on the community once our currency dropped."

"Why are you attending our school now? Aren't you supposed to be at Ooarai?" Maho asked curiously.

"I would but...the school is closed now."

Maho suddenely froze and looked up at Yukari in confusion.

"Closed? You mean like, closed closed?"

Yukari nodded her head to the question.

"I had no idea...when did this happen?"

Yukari began to explain the events, "A few months earlier, just before the start of summer vacation, many students were being transferred to other schools. I was among one of the very few to not be transferred before that school year ended. Miho has been taking it tough, till the point when she..."

Yukari's voice choked up as her eyes slowly began to tear up. Maho caught sight of this and sighed.

"Yeah, I know what happen's next." she said sadly.

"You don't suppose that...you did...something to cause this?" Yukari cried.

"My family decided this. My mother received a letter from Miho in the mail, and I wasn't able to see it."

Yukari's face became downcast as she wiped her eyes.

"What do you think was in that letter?" she asked.

Maho grew silent. Then, after a minute, she spoke again.

"I have no idea, but I'm bound to learn more as I go." she concluded confidently.

That Monday morning, news broke out all board Kuromorimine. Many people were talking about the events that Black Forest Peak had done and what was the aftermath of it all. Apperently, Blue Divison Girls High School has gotten into a conflict similar to the one that occured on Anzio, but with more eye-opening events that happened. The two groups that were running for student council got into a feud that caused them to take sides with the schools tankery team.

The school, with only approximately five days left before the tournaments begin and with a conflict stirring up between the student council and Sensha- do, Blue Division cried out for support. Kuromorimine answered that call.

With the strong urge to test out their new tanks, Black Forest Peak was sent out to take care of the situation. Over the weekend, they've managed to support the group of Blue Division that wanted to support the idea's of Shiho's one party student council. With the victory after that, the supporting group took power.

Students on Kuromorimine, began to question all the events that occurred and wondered if what was being told to them was true. All questions were bounced directly at Shiho, but Kikuyo stepped in and changed all the questions into answers.

"Students, students, please let me explain." Kikuyo pleaded in front of a crowd of girls, "What we did over the weekend at Blue Division was to stop conflict that could arise later on in the school year."

"We heard that our Sensha- do destroyed a couple of their vehicles on purpose."

"Yeah! I also heard that we hurt a few students!"

"Girls, let me explain!" Kikuyo's tone of voice became stern, which caused everyone around her to back away a few steps.

"First of all, I would expect a much more mature behavior from you all and second, we did not harm anyone in this conflict. We had to stop them, but we did it in a way that allowed us to physical stop them without harming them. If we didn't, the problem would still be going."

The girls began to mumble to one another.

Kikuyo raised an eyebrow and spoke again, "Surely now, you don't want me to get Mrs. Nishizumi into this conversation, do you?"

All the students suddenely started to disagree with the response they were given. It had become quite clear that nobody wanted to get Shiho into their conversation. he girls then began to all walk away without another word. Meanwhile, in Shiho's office, Maho stood at the front of her mothers desk. She had been called up to the front office, but she had no idea why.

"I wish to speak to you about this first before the other students."

"And what is that, mother?"

"We have been searching around for more to add to our school and I've got my eye sights on something." said Shiho.

"I don't understand, mother?" Maho replied.

"You see, we've just bought another school vessel to add to our own, to create a society much bigger than before."

"Where is this school vessel located?" Maho asked.

"That I must keep private, but what I can tell you is that it used to belong to another school in the past, but now it's under our possesion."

Maho didn't say a word.

"Pretty soon, I will be going out to a meeting and I will not see you tonight. Kikuyo will watch over you till I return early tomorrow morning. You will not be awake yet when I do, is that understood?"

"Yes, mother."

That eveing, Shiho traveled to another end of the Kuromorimine vessel to meet up with the head of Saint Gloriana's Girls Academy and the head of Maginot Girls High to discuss the upcoming events for another unexpected purchase by Kuromorimine. Many men and women came to view and attend the conference. The deal was a piece of land aboard another school vessel that Shiho and her supporters wished to own. It violated a contract that many of the school leaders favored, but they were not willing to give Kuromorimine trouble by telling them so.

"What is the primary purpose for your obtainment of this portion of land, and once you have obtained it, what do you intend to use it for." asked the Head-Mistress of Maginot.

"A large portion if not the complete section of land I wish to obtain, approve the motives and goals of the Kuromorimine council." Shiho stated.

"We've heard the similar answer come from them as well, if it is that you two wish, then we need to lay out a few standards first." added the Saint Gloriana Head-Mistress.

Shiho remained silent as they explained the deal. When the layout was finished, Shiho agreed to follow the rules that were given.

"I will ensure you, that I'm doing this for the better and that I have no desire to obtain anymore unnessesary property."

In the end, the women agreed to the deal and Shiho was promoised the last piece of property for Kuromorimine. On board, the Head-Mistress of Saint Gloriana gave a speech to all of the students about the events that happened at the meeting. The girls all seemed to agree and confirmed to themselves that the events of the meeting occurred.

Some students, on the other hand, thought that the conflict was not yet over, one of them was Darjeeling. She felt from the beginning of the deal to the end that something was bound to go wrong and thought that sometime soon that conflict will spark up again between the schools.

"I find it hard to believe that our "Friends" will not act again shortely." Darjeeling said to her close assistant, Orange Pekoe.

"It seems that their getting along well with each other, though. On television, they look like their being serious about their decisions, don't you think?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that just yet. I can guarentee you, my friend, that there will be another conflict with them very shortly."

Darjeeling's prediction was spot on, because the very next evening and into the night, a large group of Kuromorimine Civil Administrative Force Agents went aboard the nearby ship that contained the new land agreement and caused havoc. The KCAF went running through the streets and demanded that the girls on board follow Kuromorimines rules or else, they would be "contained". Those who disagreed, were taken away or worse, were beaten up behind cover. The KCAF worked together with a few of Black Forest Peaks Tanks to startle those who resisted. The one's who were catigorized as Slackers and Feeble Minded were taken to Kuoromorimine without question.

By the time the authorities got there, all the KCAF Agents and the small band of Sensha- do girls had fled back to their home ship, where they were untouched from below. However, the authorities were stopped by the wall that divided the school originally on the vessel apart from the piece that was purchased. They were not allowed to enter.

The reports spread, but most didn't respond to the act. A few agencies call out on Shiho's actions while some called it a mishap. She wanted to block all news about it to Maho, for she didn't think that her daughter should know what she's really happened.

The tankery rules for this year's tournament were different. It surprised schools when it was informed that they could choose side's with different tankery teams. Plus, when a team list, they would lose turns to fight aganist other schools, and whoever lost all their turns was eliminated.

A huge number of schools, including Saint Gloriana's, Maginot, Koala Forest and a few others joined together and started: The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers . On the opposite spectrum, Kuromorimine, Anzio, Chi-Ha Tan and Yogurt banded together and then started: The Sisterhood of Iron Will. For the first part of the selecting, Saunders and Pravda were undecicive and couldn't decide on who to team up with.

Katyusha was urged to join up with the most powerful, in order to help themselves to an easy victory.

"As long as I win my share in the ending, I'll choose whoever has the strongest army!" Katyusha said triumphantly.

"If I may insist." Nonna said to her leader, "Rather than choose who's stronger now, we should choose who's more effective."

"Nonna! Let me choose who I want! You can't tell me what to do!" Katyusha scolded in an outburst of irritation.

Nonna simply sighed, "Yes, my Commander."

Soon afterwords, Pravda made an agreement to support The Sisterhood of Iron Will. Though the two schools dislike each other, they decided to forget old ways and start anew.

The first target for The Sisterhood of Iron Will was Bonple Girls High School, which looked like a very easy target. The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers didn't approve that their oppenents were ganging up on smaller schools, but thought that the low tank count in the start of the tournament would give either side a sporting chance.

That Friday, on the first of September, Kuromorimine and Pravda prepared to fight Bonple Girls High, in the first of many battles to come. When the shot rang in the air to begin, both sides charged.

The new Sensha- do year has only just begun...


	6. Chapter 6 - Tough Decisions

It happened so fast, that the thoughts of the crew members inside of Bonples vehicles didn't know what hit them. Pravda's brute force was ruthless and strong against Bonples vehicles, while Kuromorimine's tactics were unpredictable and devastating against their enemies' fortifications. Within less than a half and hour, the battlefield was littered with craters from shell blasts and the city portion of the field was covered in smoke. With no help from any of the other girl schools, Bonple was eliminated. This went on again and again, chance after chance lost to the point when all their opportunities have been depleted. At the end of the month or so, just before their last game, Bonples forces refused to fight the other two dominating teams and they were eliminated from the competition.

"I tell you, Kommandant." Erika said boastfully, "If it wasn't for those city ruin that's they were hiding in, they wouldn't have gotten a single tank of ours."

"Well, we do have more firepower than usual." Yukari added from her teams Jagdpanzer IV.

"True." Maho said silently.

"Looks like your not that bad as a commander." Erika said to Yukari.

She didn't answer in return, she did not know what sort of tone to reply back with. Erika shrugged her shoulders.

"Who do think will be our next opponent?" asked one of Maho's team members.

"I really don't know." she said.

"I think that we should choose who want to fight next, instead of it being chosen for us by default."

"Yes, that seems okay." Yukari added on, "It also seems to be easier for us to score up the board, if we eliminate the other lesser schools first, don't you agree Erika-san?"

Erika nodded in agreement.

Maho began to wonder why the two girls were agreeing with each others opinions now than before. It seemed like some unusual bond was growing between them that Maho was quite leery of. When Black Forest Peak returned to the ship, they were flooded with cheering from all who were aboard. Not only were they applauded for their victory, but were also given' awards for their success in showing how the Nishizumi-Style dominates over all the others.

In the downtime that they had on the weekends, Maho and Yukari began to spend more time together, teaching each other news idea's and interests. Every once and a while, Erika would visit the three and see how they've been doing.

As time went on, the schools began to be chosen to fight other schools. Many hard decisions were made as to who and what will shift the tide of victory between The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers and The Sisterhood of Iron Will in the months to come. In the next round of the Sensha- do tournament, Pravda was chosen to fight against Jatkosota, but Pravda decided to hold off for a while. The reason was unknown, but the judges accepted the offer for only that one time, eventually they had to confront Jatkosota.

On the other hand though, Kuromorimine had different plans. Shiho wanted to make a personal request to fight a certain set of schools that she finds to be a threat to her ways. At the choosing's, after the intercom systems have finished announcing the schools teams, another voice came over the line:

"Due to some changes and rearrangements, Kuromorimine's Black Forest Peak Tankery Team will now be facing off against Viking Marine. Afterwards, they will battle Maginot in the next few rounds for The Sisterhood of Iron Will."

The thought of having to face off against Black Forest Peak once more began to worry the Maginot tankery team. After seeing their enemies pummel Viking Marines' team, members of the group began to have nervous breakdowns. Plus, despite the fact that there wasn't a neighboring school that wanted to support them, they feared that they too would be annihilated by Kuromorimine.

Thankfully though, another school in The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers joined in to help...

At Saint Glorianas Girls Academy, the schools tankery team decided to help their ally in the fight against Kuromorimine. Darjeeling herself even made a special promise to fight alongside with them in the battle. With the new vehicles that they had in purchased, Saint Glorianas was ready for a battle to remember. In the garage, Orange Pekoe and Assam walked up to their commander, Darjeeling, who was viewing over a vehicle under a large tarp, it's true appearance hidden from view.

"Everything is loaded and ready for tomorrow." saluted Orange Pekoe.

"Good." Darjeeling responded back, she didn't turn around to face her companions.

"What are you looking at, Commander?" Assam asked.

"Oh, this thing? Why this thing here, is the solution to our problems with Black Forest's heavy tanks."

"May we see this vehicle?" Orange Pekoe said curiously.

"No, not until a later date in time. I wish to surprise everyone." the blond haired leader addressed.

"I understand, shall we get ourselves another cup of tea?"

"Indeed, let us go." Darjeeling said, turning around to the other two.

Tomorrow was when the two factions would go for the standoff. The vehicle number count rose from ten to fifteen, both teams began to bring out their deadlier tools. Thought Maginot had only a few good vehicles, Saint Glorianas tank count helped boost up The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers' army. Before the start, Maho and Erika were viewing over the maps that their school had got two days earlier.

"Hmm... I wonder if we should attack straight on?" Erika wondered.

"We can't." Maho said, "Their forces are guarding this long line up and down the center. If we charge like that, they would simply shoot at us straight down the middle."

"What do we do? Do we just hide way back and fire from afar?" Erika asked.

"Possibly, but I have other plans to..."

Suddenly, Yukari bursted into the room.

"Hey guys, I've have an idea!" she exclaimed joyfully.

The other two girls looked at each other with an expression of confusion on their faces. They weren't ready on having a whole another plan fly right at them, but at the same time, they weren't ready for the cheery mood of Yukari to flood into the room with them.

Maho smiled and made a gesturing motion with her hand, "Interesting, please tell us."

Yukari placed a piece of paper on the big table in the room.

"Alright! You see this piece of land here?" she asked with a finger on the woodland area, "We can possibly take this route around the line and attack at them by surprise!"

"Suppose they turn around though, then what?" Erika folded her arms.

"That's the trick, we are going to sneak around them using stealth and then position ourselves in the nearby bush area. Once this happens, we choose our targets wisely and take them out one by one right there and then."

"Indeed, we do have our large canons. Perhaps we could use part of that strategy?"

Erika raised an eyebrow, "Why not all of it, Kommandant?"

Maho pointed to the map.

"Our friend here is correct about the woodland flank method, but there's a large piece of open grassland here that can blow our opportunity. The angle of the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers' positioning could reveal that sector."

"How about a distraction?" Erika offered, "I figured that you might know how to make that smoke screen you used on us at last years finals."

"I know how to make a portion of it. Maybe we can work together?"

"Sure." Maho agreed.

There was a noise at the door. Turning around, the three saw Kikuyo accommodated by two KCAF girls.

"Yes, Ms. Kikuyo?" Erika asked.

"Mrs. Nishizumi wanted me to ask you girls if the battlefield planning is ready to be briefed on or not?"

"We're just about finished." Maho said.

"Alright, I'll inform her on your plans." Kikuyo returned.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrows games, Ms. Kikuyo?" Yukari added.

"Oh yes, I am. I'm going around the school and encouraging the girls. I'm looking forward to watching you three lead the charge tomorrow." she said happily.

She then turned and left the room with the KCAF's trailing beside her. From behind her, Erwin walked into the room.

"Erwin-Chan you come to our school now!?" Yukari gasped cheerfully.

"Yes and after overhearing your plans, I propose a tactic that will prevail above our enemies'."

In the early morning, when the sun was not on the horizon yet, Kuromorimines tankery team embarked on the trip from the docked school vessel to the battlefield, where the first round against Saint Gloriana's and Maginot was to take place. While leaving her dorm, Maho saw a poster in the hall that caught her eye. It was a poster of a silhouetted Tiger I and Panther rolling over the silhouette of a burned out KV-1. In bold Japanese black letters, the words, "CRUSH ALL THOSE WHO OPPOSE!" was written at the top of it. The feeling had gotten to Maho that her mother might have taken the idea a bit too far. On the other hand, it encouraged her to lead her teammates to roll into battle and reign over their foes.

While walking pass the holding area, where the schools vehicles were held before being transferred to the starting area, Maho took a look at the list of vehicles that they would use in the fight.

* * *

1 Panzer III

1 Panzer IV

1 Jagdpanther

1 Tiger I

1 Tiger II

1 StuG III

4 Jagdpanzer IV's

5 Panther's

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS:** 15 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"That's strange?" Maho said to herself, "Since when did we get a Panzer IV?"

She walked down the row of vehicles parked under the concrete roof until she located the Panzer IV. It was painted tan with side armor on both sides of its hull and turret. The Kuromorimine Iron Cross emblem was found on both sides of the turret's armored plates. Suddenly, a flashback rushed into Maho's head. It was of her Tiger I coming face to face with a drifting brown Panzer IV, followed by a tremendous boom from both cannons. Thick clouds of dark smoke came flooding into Maho's face, cause her eyes to water and her skin to darken. When the smoke cleared, a white flag popped out of the Panzer IV, followed by the announcement over the microphone. Her sister face holding an expression of defeat.

All of a sudden, Maho jolted backwards in shock and accidentally bumped into Erwin.

"Oh, please forgive me." Maho apologized.

"No, its fine. I was just going to my tank crew." she said with a small smile.

"Right, as you were."

At the same moment that Erwin walked away, Yukari walked up to Maho staring at the Panzer IV.

"Do you like it, Maho-san? Mrs. Nishizumi allowed me to pick it out myself."

"I've got a feeling that this is probably your teams old panzer." Maho said hesitantly.

"How can it, it's painted tan and has th..."

"No really, take a good hard look at it." interrupted Maho.

Yukari stared hard at the Panzer IV, searching for any similarities that she might have remembered from the past. She noticed something, a dark smudge under the Iron Cross of Kuromorimine that looked familiar to her. Squinting her eyes a little, she saw the shape of a faded out fish tail.

"That can't be right?" she said to herself, she began to slowly back away from the vehicle. Her face became pale, "What was I thinking?"

"Don't worry, I understand." Maho replied.

The intercom system in the holding ports went off, announcing the beginning of the match.

"We can discuss this later on." Maho said while turning to walk away.

When in position to begin, the smoke shot fired into the air and exploded. The fifteen tanks of Black Forest Peak stormed from their starting positions and thundered out onto the field. Maho's Tiger I took the lead, following Erika's Tiger II and then everyone else's vehicles. The brigade traveled a good mile before Maho began issuing orders.

"All teams listen up! We are going to split into two squads, one of seven and one of eight! Then we are going to separate and go to different locations."

"Roger, I'll lead one of the squads to the assigned position." Erika confirmed.

"Go to the assigned coordinates on your maps and wait for my go."

The two squads broke apart and went to their destinations. Team A which was made up of Maho's Tiger I, Yukari's Panzer IV, Koume's Panzer III, a Panther and two Jagdpanzer IV's went into the deep forest. Meanwhile, Team B, which included Erika's Tiger II, Erwin's StuG III, Jagdpanther-Chan's Jagdpanther and the remainder four Panthers and two Jagdpanzer IV's went forward to a large brush area. Peering through the periscope scope, Erika could see a large bunker-like wall in the distance with a french and a British tank sticking their guns out of holes in a concrete dome.

"Kommandant, I've spotted the enemy team." reported Erika.

"Report the enemies vehicles." ordered Maho.

"I've got eyes on an enemy Matilda and a Char B1 in the distance." said Erwin over the radio.

Erika heard the response and peered into her Tiger IIs' periscope again. The Char B1 was slightly angled in its place. Near the drivers port, Erika believed that she saw a faded out smudge of a cross-like emblem.

"Kommandant, I believe that B1 in front of me is something we've fought in the past."

"What do you mean?"

"Wait a minute... Another Ooarai tank?" Yukari said in surprise.

"It appears that were dealing with old problems again." Maho said to herself, "Listen up, all tanks follow me."

The squad drove alongside her through the thick forest area. The undergrowth and bushes giving cover to their vehicles as they drive through the woods. Like a wild crouching beast sneaking up on it's prey, Team A swiftly pass behind the wall and continued moving north while Team B stopped behind the walled area to observe from cover.

"Where do you think they're at?" asked one of the Maginot girls to a Saint Gloriana's one.

"Oh, there out there somewhere. Just try to have some more patience." she said back.

The Maginot girl groaned, "These minutes feel like hours and these hours feel like days and these days feel like months and these months feel like yea..."

"Alright, I get the point!" the sound of irritation was in the Saint Glorianas girls' voice, "I get that it feels like a year but you could have just told me that in the first place!"

"Whats the problem over here?" a voice called from a nearby radio. The two other girls looked over at each other and then were silent. Meanwhile, Darjeeling was standing on top of her Churchill VII, drinking tea and over viewing of list of vehicles for the match.

* * *

1 Churchill VII

1 Crusader

1 Cromwell

1 AT-2

1 BDR G1 B

1 Somua SAu 40

1 Char B1

2 AMX 38's

2 AMX 40

4 Matilda's

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **15 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"It seems reasonably well for a fight like this." Darjeeling said sipping from her teacup.

Just then, her two assistance's came walking up to her tank. Orange Pekoe was holding a map in her hands while Assam was holding a pair of binoculars in her own.

"Is everything alright, commander?" Orange Pekoe asked nervously.

"Not in a situation like this."

The two girls below looked at each other in confession.

"We don't understand, commander?" Assam replied.

"Well, it's just that, we've haven't seen a tank for quite awhile now and I suppose that they're waiting for us somewhere on this battlefield." Darjeeling placed the list down on the tank turret, "I will only wait a little while longer before we retreat."

"From here? Commander this is a perfect firing position, we have them straight in front of us for open fire. Perhaps we might stand a chance if we stay here for the whole match."

"I'm afraid that's a risk I'm not willing to take." Darjeeling said lowering herself from the Churchill VII.

While watching from the stands, Shiho and Kikuyo were quietly talking next to each other.

"No combat yet, how long do you think that this will drag on?" Kikuyo asked.

"It will erupt very soon, I can assure you that." said Shiho, "Kikuyo, can you do something for me?"

"Hmm?"

"I have a list of details for a flag. Can you give it to the crafting club to create it?"

"Yes I can." Kikuyo agreed.

She looked down at the list and began reading the paper to herself. The details listed information about a orangish-yellow flag with the Kuromorimine Iron Cross in the middle of a white circle. Black lines streamed from all sides of the circle. Kikuyo thought nothing of it but a good design and was curious to see what it looked like when it was finished.

"Pay attention Kikuyo, they're about to intersect."

Coming out of the forest, Black Forest Peak was met with the back view of an open field area with trees. Their enemies' vehicles were parked behind the armored line. Erika's temptation to shoot at her enemies returned to her.

"Prepare to fire!" Erika suddenly commanded to her crew members.

"No. Hold your fire, Tiger II." Erwin ordered.

"Erika, don't do it." Maho said sternly.

"My Kommandant, they're right in front of us."

"Don't disobey your commanding officer, hold your fire." Maho ordered again.

In her Panzer IV, Yukari placed her finger on a nearby button and was about ready to push it.

"Our Kommandant is right." said Jagdpanther-Chan, "We should really..."

There was a loud boom and a shot was fired from the nozzle of a tanks cannon.

* * *

**Author's Note: **The next part of the battle will continue in the next chapter. Also, I'm finished with testing this week, so the next chapter will come out much more quickly. Thank you for all your guys' and gals' patience.


	7. Chapter 7 - Eyes On The Prize

**Author' Note: If you are confused about something in the plot or just have a certain question on the story, PM me about it. Feel free to write a review at anytime on the story so far.**

* * *

There was a sudden pause across the field after the shot was fired. Maho prepared herself for the incoming fire that was about to begin. When she lifted her head out of the commanders hatch, she noticed that there was smoke coming from one of the other tanks on the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers' side. It was coming from the enemy Crusader, who's gunner had mistakenly fired a shot into the nearby bushes in front of it, thinking that an enemy vehicle was hiding in them. Maho sighed in relief that her entire teams position was not yet compromised.

"I appreciate that you held your fire, Erika." she said.

Erika grumbled on the other side of the radio, "It's still a perfect opportunity."

"That opportunity of yours could have costed us heavily."

"When should we fire, Kommandant?" Yukari asked.

"On my go. Wait until they are all distracted before you engage."

All of Maginot's and Saint Gloriana's vehicles shifted towards the direction of the shot fired by the Crusader. Some of the tank pointed their turrets in the same direction of where the shot was fired at.

"Which one of you thought that was a good idea?" Darjeeling asked over the radio.

"I swear Captain, I thought I saw something move out there." the girl stated.

Assam peeked through the periscope and saw nothing in front of her, except a wide open field of tall grass and rocks.

"I don't see anything." Assam replied.

The vehicles of Kuromorimine waited in the bushes and the undergrowth with baited breath for Maho's commander to fire. Erika's face was dripping sweat as she gave the order for what tank to fire upon, while Erwin , Koume, Yukari and the others remained calm as they chose their targets. Silence fell over the battlefield as all the crews waited for the word. Maho's eyes closed shut for a second and then suddenly flashed open again.

"Open fire." Maho addressed calmly to the others.

Streaks of fire and smoke poured out of the cannons as they tanks fired. The shells came flying towards the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers and began rocking their tanks back and forth. When the dust cleared, both of Maginots' AMX-40's and the track of the Cromwell was knocked out. All the other tanks immediately shifted themselves towards the direction of the shots.

"All units prepare for engagement." Darjeeling said.

"Spread out and take them down!" ordered Erika.

The brigade of Black Forest Peak tanks started treading out into the open and continued firing upon the opposing team. The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers tried their best to hold the line that they already have, but were forced back in another direction. Nestled between the tanks, Maginots' Char B1 was chosen to be the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers' flag tank, trying to fire at all available targets that drive in front of it.

"We can't hold them off for long here!" exclaimed the commander of one of the Matilda's.

"Retreat but keep suppressing fire on them!"

"Which direction are we going in?" suggested Orange Pekoe.

"Just... Follow me and keep your eyes sharp." Darjeeling ordered.

Two of Kuromorimines' Jagdpanzer IV's were knocked out in the advance, while Erwin's StuG III team eliminated one of the four Matilda's.

"Another vehicle is neutralized." said the StuG III's gunner over the radio.

"Admirable shot." Erwin commented.

"Keep your distance, team." said Maho, "Don't charge directly at them."

The Churchill VII a few more shots and immobilized a Panther in the process. The teams keep firing at each other while trying to move as fast as they could out of the area. Craters soon covered the green fields and trees in the forest became scorched sticks on the forest floor. In the back of the Black Forest squadron, Koume was inside her team's Panzer III, trying to finish off the Cromwell with the broken tread from earlier. After firing a few more shells into the Cromwell, it failed to operate.

"Hopefully that was helpful." she said.

Another Panther from Kuromorimine was knocked out shortly afterwards, followed by Maho announcing over the radio, "Fall back to the line, we need to relocate."

"Shall we activate it now?" Yukari asked.

"Activate what?" Erika returned.

"Just press the red button near you, Erika-san. That goes for everybody else as well."

"I know." said Maho, "Do what she says, team."

At the same moment that she gave the order to, all the Commanders in each Black Forest Peak tank pressed the red buttons near their feet. Large clouds of white smoke shot out of small holes on the sides of all the vehicles. The girls used this to disappear from Saint Gloriana's and Maginot's view. Darjeeling sipped from her teacup as she peered through her Churchill VII's periscope.

"Very interesting. I see how your playing." she murmured to herself.

When they were a safe distance away from the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers, Kuromorimine stopped to plan their next move.

"That was a good save back there, my friend." Erwin said.

"Thank you." Yukari answered back.

"Listen up, team. Our plan has worked out for us pretty far but we need to ensure that their flag tank is eliminated."

"Excuse me, but I might have a suggestion." Koume said raising her hand.

"Yes?" asked Maho.

"Perhaps, my team could scout with Erwin-sama's StuG III while you guys wait for our go?"

"Hmm...That could be done, but what else?" Erwin asked.

"We can allow the heavier vehicles to use the town portion to their advantage, while the lighter vehicles stay on the outskirts." a girls from one of the other vehicles said.

"The idea seems fair, but I'm concerned about where they're located in the town." Yukari added.

"That means that our scout will probably need to go behind them and spot them out from there." Koume replied.

"That's a risky decision, Kommandant. Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Maho answered confidently.

Back in the grandstands, the crowd waited anxiously for the teams to continue the fight once more. Shiho and Kikuyo were also waiting with much anticipation.

"The battle appears to be slow. I've never recalled it dragging along like this." Kikuyo commented.

"You can expect that in a match like this, especially when we are competing against two different forces at once."

"The opposing schools are all worried at this point." said Kikuyo, "They're all hiding in the streets, instead of being out in the hills."

"They will go for the water if they feel too threatened." Shiho pointed to the enormous screen that was shown in front of them, "You see that gigantic steel raft on the water there?"

Kikuyo nodded.

"The judges say that its holding capacity can size up to five vehicles at a time for that large island. There, they can make a fortification for our units tat will follow them there. There's also a large chance that their team's flag tank with be on the first trip over."

"I feel confident that Black Forest will stop them before that happens."

Shiho didn't respond back. Instead, she kept her eyes on the screen the whole time that the conversation was happening. Kikuyo caught sight of this and continued to watch the match as well. In the town portion and the shoreline portion of the map, all the remaining Saint Gloriana's and Maginot teams waited to call over the raft for the island area of the map. All the girls were waiting with worry on their faces for the enemy's arrival.

"Keep your eyes peeled, girls." Darjeeling spoke, "They will be here at any minute."

"When will the electronic metal raft arrive, Commander?" asked Assam.

"Don't worry friend, it will be here soon. Please have some more patience, I know that your a little shooken up from the combat."

There was a long low rumbling noise overhead as a pair of dark grey clouds blocked out the sun. From behind them, Darjeeling and the others saw that the whole horizon had turned a dark blackish gray color and that a cold wind was blowing in the air. It brought shivers to the girls skin, as if an invisible figure was blowing its chilling breath into their faces. The beach, that they were on, was littered with burnt up tank chassis's that were added to the map for use of cover and for the apperance of a war torn battlefield.

Orange Pekoe broke the silence, "It might rain soon."

"It will be a disadvantage for everyone."

"Lets hope that this battle finishes sooner rather than later." said Assam.

"Right. The transport is on it's way." comfirmed the Commander from the AT-2.

Minutes later, the Black Forest brigade came storming over the hill outside the town entrance. Koume, Erwin and Yukari's teams' Panzer IV went around the far east side of the town into a bush patch up on top of a hill overviewing the beach, while Maho, Erika and all the others charged into the town to search for the enemy. On top of the hill, the three commanders and their crews observed the Saint Glorianas tanks stationed on the beach.

"There they are." Yukari said under her breath.

"Ready to fire." Erwin stated into the radio.

"Copy that." Maho said back through the static filled transmission.

Out of nowhere, there was a yell over the radio,"Damnit, my track and my tank!" Jagdpanther-Chan growled angrily.

While driving down one of the streets, Kuromorimines Jagdpanther was shot out by Maginot's hidden Somua SAu 40 Tank Destroyer.

"Another friendly is out!" Erika reported while finishing off the Somua SAu 40.

"The scouting group began to fire upon Darjeeling and the rest of Saint Gloriana's tanks on the shoreline. The Panzer IV managed to shoot out a Matilda before being nailed by Darjeeling's Churchill VII from below. The StuG III fired on the Churchill VII but ricocheted off the angled armor.

"Forget the front armor and aim for the side!" Erwin ordered.

"They're above us." Orange Pekoe blurted out.

"Shift us around quickly." Darjeeling called.

The huge British heavy turned its hull in the direction in which the shot was fired from and blasted it's own gun into the bushes. A white flag popped out of the top of Erwin's eliminated StuG III.

"Oh no, retreat!" cried out one of Koume's teammates.

The Panzer III fell back from their position on the hilltop. A loud blow-horn noise came from the shoreline.

"The transport has arrived! Everyone get aboard."

While the Saint Gloriana's girls rolled into the transport, Maginot was getting pounded back in the town.

"They still have a Char B1, a BDR G1 B and two AMX 38's still creeping around here." reported the Commander of one of the Panthers.

"Start searching around and stop them."

A small squad of tanks broke away from the town group to strike the beachfront. When they got there, they saw the last of the Saint Gloriana's vehicles loading into the raft. The reversing AT-2 fired at Erika's Tiger II, but the shell bounced off the thick armor. Erika did the same, but failed to penetrate the slanted frontal armor of the British AT-2. Then, one of the AMX 38's came up behind her tank and shot the exhaust pipes, stalling the vehicle in it's place.

"Are you kidding me right now!?" she thundered to herself. The other girls in her tank shivered a little when they heard her.

The Tiger II's turret swung around and fire a shell that threw the AMX 38 down the street.

Then a noise went off over the loudspeakers, "The flag tank for the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers have been immobilized! The Sisterhood of Iron Will is the winners!"

Surely enough, smoke was spilling out from the Char B1's engine compartment. A small line of smoke was coming out of Maho's cannon. The raft containing the remaining Saint Gloriana's girls' tank's stopped on the island.

"This victory will pave the way for all the other battles to come." Shiho said, "Let's depart and wait on the ship for the others to return."

"Yes, Madam Nishizumi." Kikuyo said back.

As the days followed and the matches continued, Kuromorimine kept on beating Maginot, who now stood by themselves. Anzio even joined in with Black Forest Peak to take on Maginot in the last battle between the two. When word had gotten to Saint Gloriana's that Maginot was out of the completion, they began to worry. There was no word from Saunders and they stood alone as the only fighter for the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers. News also came to that the current president for the academy's student council had stepped down recently and that a new position was up for term.

"We need a true leader, someone who will be able to keep us alive and keep us motivated." said a girl to her friend one day in the hall.

"I know, maybe we will be able to choose someone who's experienced in leadership to lead us students along." the friend said back.

"Yeah, but who?" the other wondered.

In the long run, the winner was a bright, young, battle tested girl who was ready for whatever Kuromorimine would throw at her and her school. Posters were hung up all around the school campus that displayed her quotes on the upcoming game and she influenced every girl at Saint Gloriana's to work at her best in helping the better cause. Meanwhile, Kuromorimine was celebrating another long line of victories. The Sensha-do team was greeted with awards after their long hard battles against Maginot. While in her office one day, Shiho made an announcement to all the girls of Kuromorimines' Student Council. She told them that after a long time without a primary leader for the team that she herself would take the spot of being the leader of them. Days after that, the flag and emblem that Shiho requested to be made was seen all across the entire school.

Maho, Erika and Yukari were sitting next to each other on break when they got a full glimpse at the amount of banners that were around them.

"Whoever made up the idea for the design and the flag must of had a while to think it up." Yukari complimented on the flag.

"Yes and I can say it definitely looks more appealing than the older design." said Erika.

"Right, my friend, can I have a word with you?" Maho asked to Yukari.

"Yeah sure." she agreed.

Erika stared at the two as they walked away, she wondered what was so important that Maho should tell Yukari about that she didn't need to know. The two girls went into a nearby hall and began their discussion.

"Listen, did I mention to you about that letter that Miho sent to our household that one day?"

"Yes, you told me about it on the same day we met each other." Yukari confirmed.

"Well, since you wanted to find out what was written on it, I've decided that I'm going to try and sneak the letter out of the house myself."

"What! Why would you..."

Maho shushed her, "I want to read it myself, but I can't have everyone else know that I stole it or we both might find our consequence's too disturbing to speech of."

Chills ran down Yukari's neck when she heard this.

"Alright then, I won't cause you any trouble with obtaining that message." she whispered in return.

Maho nodded, "I know that I can trust you to help me out with this, even if it means just having your lips sealed about the plan."

The intercom buzzed out the sound of their conversation.

"All Sensha-do, Kuromorimine Civil Administrative Force and Student Council members report to the main conference room at once, please."

The two girls looked at each other and ran to find out the meeting was called for. When they arrived, the two met up with Erika, who was standing behind dozens of girls who were waiting for their Head Mistress' arrival. At the far end of the room, all the KCAF girls stood in four neat little rows of six in each row and the entire student council was sitting on the other far side of the room at their assigned seating. The door opened and both Shiho walked into the room and stood at a podium, while Kikuyo trailed behind with a notepad and pen in hand.

"Students...I've called you all here today to discuss the major upcoming events for our school. However, I've called you here to discuss the situation with the "Slackers" and the "Feeble Minded"."

For some odd reason, the sound of those two words being said by her mother annoyed Maho, but she knew way better than to shout out her opinion to someone that has high authority over her.

"We have planned on "helping" these students learn more effectively of how the Nishizumi Way is strong and prosperous. We have been giving the idea lot of thought and we believe that we have came up with a solution."

Midoriku 'Sodoko' Sono stepped forward to speak, "Mrs. Nishizumi, myself and the rest of the KCAF have come up to the idea that these students should go to a variety of specialized learning campus', in order to gain a better education than to be within the learning grounds of other Kuromorimine girls and faculty."

Shiho spoke again, "We believe that it's best for these students to learn in a separate environment, in order to get the best of the program. However, I'll get to the detail's later. Right now, we our on the turning point in the Sensha-do tournament. As many of you know, we our preparing to battle against one of our long time rivals, Saint Gloriana's Girls Academy."

The tall women paused for a brief moment.

"And this time, we are going to make sure that they'll think twice before trying to claim victory against us."


	8. Chapter 8 - Operation: Tea Lioness

Tension rose from everywhere at Saint Gloriana's. From everyone, thoughts of success and thoughts of failure flowed through the mind. The thought itself of losing multiple times in a row to a long hated rival was nerve racking. Holding on to their wits, the academy's tankery team tried to forget the thought of losing to Kuromorimine. In the weeks before the games, Saint Gloriana's Sensha-do team received a shipment of new uniforms from the nationals league. Pulling them out of the cardboard boxes that they received, the girls were amazed at what they found.

Inside the boxes, the girls pulled out neatly folded greenish-tan jumpsuits with multiple pockets on them. Their were even slots for them to put their nametags on the front of the suits. In the other box, were a bunch of black military berets with the schools emblem on the front of them. There were even new headsets for the crews to wear during combat that made all the girls anxious to get their hands on. Darjeeling walked into the room at the same moment that the girls had opened the last box.

"What seems to be all the commotion about?" she asked, having no clue about the new uniforms yet.

"Look at this, Commander! We've all got new gear!" said one of the cheerful crew members.

"That sounds like great news, my friends." she replied.

"Hey!" shouted another girl in the back of the crowd, "Since we felt like your such a fine leader, we've all decided to substitute your uniform for one we made just for you!"

Darjeeling walked through the crowd towards the voice. In the one girls hand's was a bright tan jacket with a folded orange collar and a dark green turtleneck shirt to go underneath it. On the front of the jacket, the name Darjeeling was stitched in yellow letters on a dark blue nametag. Along with that was a black beret with a silver Mark IV tank in the middle of a silver gear design, a small crown was at the top of the gear decal. She also received a folded pair of navy blue cargo pants and a pair of shiny black combat boots.

"Ummm...I baffled at all this, my friends." Darjeeling said with the new items in her hands.

"Do you like it?" asked Orange Pekoe within the crowd.

A big smile appeared on the Commander's face, "It's wonderful. Thank you everybody."

She walked over to her parked Churchill VII in the team's garage and placed the clothing and gear on top of the tanks frontal hull. She then sat down on top of the hull and called the others to come listen to her.

"My friends, as you know, we are competing once more against Kuromorimine." Darjeeling paused for a moment, "Our Sensha-do reputation could be possibly crushed in these next few games."

The girls looked at each other in worry. They all knew that they were standing alone for the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers. One wrong move would create a domino effect that would cause The Sisterhood of Iron Will to crush their foes every round after another.

"And if that happens, then if our neighboring school, Saunders University High, doesn't pull through after us, then there won't be The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers. In fact, there would be no competition at all."

"We must make sure that we don't fail to win against them!" a girl shouted.

"I know we will. However, we all need to contribute to help our goal." said Darjeeling.

"And what would that be?"

The blond haired leader slowly rose to a stand.

"The school itself will need to become devoted to help our victory. The students here need some more enthusiasm, something more to help motivate for our battles."

"Any idea's of your own, Commander?"

"Yes. One of my ideas is to prepare for the worst, but at the same time, be ready for anything."

Darjeeling pointed to another box in the corner of the giant garage.

"In that box over there is something that we might all need on the field. The ideal battleground for these next few rounds will be dirty and unpredictable. The last thing we need is someone getting sick on the job. So I thought that the best method for winning this conflict is to play safe."

The sound of her words seemed shocking to the girls. Thinking that playing in a possible hazardous environment would be harmful for everyone, so they all took note of it.

"In the meantime, we will practice for the upcoming games. I hope for everyone here to try their best to complete the daily tankery training goals."

Orange Pekoe came forth, "Lets try our best to also spread some encouragement to the students. We might be able to cause some of the students to help us."

"Correct, my dear friend." Darjeeling smiled, "Now, let us all prepare for practice today and try our best in all we do." she concluded.

While walking out, she grabbed a box cutter from behind a pile of writing utensils. With a long tearing sound, she cut open the box near the door as she exited. The other girls walked behind her and looked inside the large cardboard box. Some of the girls' smiles suddenly disappeared when they began to pull out what was inside: Black Gas Masks, with two glass eyeholes and long rubber snouts ending at where the mask's filter is supposed to be placed in.

All that week, the team's attended class, target practicing on the range and even preparing for drills and raids if case they occurred in combat. The Sensha- do team practiced on using the gas masks provided to them and how it worked in dirty fighting conditions. Most the girls at first thought that it was completely unlady like but when they began to test the masks with different odors and smells, they realized just how efficient they really were. They attended drills in case they team was under heavy fire to flee for a network of tunnels where their tanks can be safe.

"According to the map, it shows that a majority of the battlefield is completely city. There's a large roadway passage that goes underground, we could perhaps use this to our advantage." said a Commander of one of the teams' tanks.

"There's no way that anything can penetrate us from that deep under the surface."

"I guess if all else fails, we can head there."

Back at Kuromorimine, the schools Tankery team was also prepping for battle. Preparations were being made for "Operation Tea Lioness", the fight against Saint Gloriana's full fighting arsenal. The situation would be extreme, for Black Forest Peak knew that their long known rivals would bring out their biggest guns. The girls on campus were all motivated that a strong enough strike against their enemy would send them packing from their posts. A few of Black Forest Peaks' tanks received modified suspension, to give them a large speed boost when in combat. With the permission given to modify the treads on their medium tanks, the Judges gave them the suspensions they needed.

While sitting around in the tank holding bay later that day, Yukari noticed Koume Akaboshi struggling to get something out of her Panzer III. After noticing that it was something heavy that Koume couldn't pull out herself, Yukari then wandered over to see if she needed assistance.

"Hey, do you need any help with that?" Yukari asked.

"Please, Akiyama-san." Koume wheezed.

Using teamwork, the two managed to pull out the Panzer III's radio and place on the hull of the vehicle.

"Thank you." Koume replied.

"What were you doing trying to get this radio out of the Panzer all by yourself?"

"Well, I thought that I could lift it out by myself." said Koume while sitting down.

"These radio's are much more heavier than they look." Yukari turned on one of the communication knobs to see if it turned properly.

"How would you know?"

Yukari sat down next to the Panzer III commander,"Back home, I have a FuG III radio just like this one in my closet and it was no easy task to get it in and out on my own."

"Goodness, it must of weighed a ton." Koume exclaimed.

"It did. 110 pounds to be exact."

The other girls face was fascinated at the knowledge of the Panzer IV Commander, "Wow! Did you have to drag it out by your own strength or did you have a dolly to carry it?"

"Oh, defiantly a dolly. Lifting that thing is just like lifting a 110 pound dumbbell, maybe even more than that." Yukari giggled from the question.

The two exchanged smiles with each other and after a moment of brief silence, Yukari spoke again.

"Why are you removing this radio from your team's tank anyways?"

"There was a shipment of new supplies yesterday and our tank is getting a radio upgrade. It should be coming to the garage tomorrow before the next game."

"It's going to be an advantage for you guy's, after all, you are a scout crew."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Akiyama-san."

"Wait, your the Commander of this tank, right?" Yukari asked.

"Yes, but only recently. The other Panzer III Commander, the one with the glasses, was promoted to being a Commander for one of the Jagdpanzer IV's."

"Good for her. All of us are getting promoted it feels like."

"Yeah, it's all these small ribbons we're receiving for our victories against the other schools."

Suddenly, the doors at the far end of the hangar swung open and two KCAF girls with megaphones stomped into the garage.

"ALL PANZERKRAFT PARTICIPANTS, LINE FORMATION AT ONCE!" both of the girls shouted.

All of Black Forest Peak lined up in their rows inside the long tank garage, preparing for final preparations before taking off to the battlefront. Shiho came into the holding bay to make a speech before the girls' departure.

"Tomorrow night will be a new kind of battle. What I mean when I say this is that our battlefield will be completely different. You will all be bombarding our foes more than taking them out head-on. The judges this time around will introduce a revolutionary new shell for all Panzerkraft vehicles to use. This new shell is called the SAT-25 RAIN (Sensha-do Ammunition Type-25 RAIN), its capable of hitting targets from afar while the gun firing it is angled upward.

A KCAF girl came forward holding a sleek silver and black shell with a round nose piece at the end of it. Shiho took the shell out of the girls arms and presented it for everyone to see. A girl in one of the rows raised her hand high up in the air.

"What is it?" Shiho asked.

"Wouldn't they ban this kind of weapon because it closely resembles to how an artillery fires?"

"No, the reason why is that these shells are not to be fired from far distance's but more likely to fire into hard to reach locations better. This field of battle is urban and from our past experiences with city combat, this is where the other school with try and hide from us the best they can. These weapons will help you out when this sort of situation starts up."

The girl's all began to understand the idea of the new deadly tool and why the word RAIN was in it.

"With that being said, you with each be loaded with an equal amount of standard and SAT-25 RAIN shells. I want you girls to view over the maps that the league has provided to you so you all can be ready. Plan and look over all the stages and methods on how to bring another major victory for our school. The whole school is putting it's trust on you girls, so don't let us down."

Shiho then left the garage with the two megaphone KCAF girls trailing close behind her. The crews went through the side doors of the hangar to get ready to return to their dorms for the evening. A random student came into the garage and walked up to Koume and Yukari sitting on the Panzer III.

"Hello, is Nishizumi Maho present?"

"Sorry, but she isn't here today. I think she's sick or something like that."

However, she wasn't ill at all. Maho was waiting at the door of her mothers office, waiting for her return. When Shiho did return, she was accompanied by Kikuyo as well. The three entered the closed-up office and shut the door behind them.

"Please leave us for a moment, Kikuyo." said Shiho.

When Kikuyo had left the room, Maho turned back to her mother's desk.

"Maho, tomorrow night is a very important battle."

"I know mother, everyone is excited and talking about it."

"That is why I must show you something."

Shiho got up from her desk and pulled up on the string of a wind-up map. Behind it was a whiteboard with writing all over it in marker. There were five different paragraph's written in red, blue, green, brown and black marker, each with a different topic in it. Maho read a large bold written word at the top of the board:

"Nishizumism?" the word rolled on Maho's tongue as read the word aloud.

"Indeed. After all these years of observing and researching, I believe that I have came up with a better teaching method in the school system. It will be a new way of how students will be educated, not just in Sensha-do but also in general education."

Maho sank into chair. Her mind raced with thoughts, "What are you thinking, mother!? Can't you see that you've gone too far? Can't you see what students might be truly thinking about this?" Her mind raced back to the day when Miho and the rest of Ooarai had lost the nationals to Kuromorimine and wondered what they must of felt if they could all see the things that were happening now.

"Maho, are you paying attention?" Shiho raised an eyebrow in question.

The daughter quickly snapped out of her daze, "Ugh...Yes Mother."

Shiho assumed that her daughter had heard her and she continued, "I wish to show you this first so you get an idea of whats coming soon."

"I understand, Mother." Maho replied back.

"Very well then, you should return to the others and prepare for "Operation Tea Lioness". No need to keep you waiting."

Maho Nishizumi got up from her seat and left the office with a troubled look on her face.

* * *

(The Next Night **\- **2000 Hours)

* * *

Operation Tea Lioness was in full motion. The urban field was in burning ruins (of course, the judges made sure the fires were in securely closed-in ruins), the cobblestone streets were filled with craters from flying tank shells and the smell of smoke was in the air. While Black Forest was looking for the remaining Saint Gloriana's tanks on the surface, Darjeeling had gathered the other remaining tanks to flee for the underground tunnels.

While waiting, the girls kept one eye on the entrance and another to what they were doing. Orange Pekoe was sitting close to Darjeeling as the sound of explosions can be heard from above.

"Do you think that they will find us down here?" Assam asked, removing her mask from her face.

"Most likely not. Their leaders will eventually give up on this sector and search somewhere else."

"I'm a bit scared, Commander." Orange Pekoe responded with a shaky reply.

"Don't be, my dear friend. Keep calm and carry on. That's what I always say." Darjeeling said cheerfully.

The answer restored a small smile to the loaders face.

"When they run low on ammunition, they'll begin to go in disorder. That's when we will strike."

"So, for now, we wait?" one of the other girls asked from across the parked tanks.

"We wait." Darjeeling confirmed.

They had waited the whole night before attacking and when they did, they were victorious. With one victory for Saint Gloriana's, Kuromorimine started to think twice about the whole "Operation" thing and put it aside for just another few rounds of tough Panzerkraft. Each round felt like months going by, as the fighting was quite minimal. Using the same tactic's every other round after that, the British themed school had triumphed over their long hated rival. When word spread that they have lost the rounds, Black Forest Peak tried to think of alternatives for battle.

"Should we fight south more, Kommandant? I know that we might be able to defeat the lesser schools." Erika Itsumi offered the next day.

"Perhaps, but it's up to officials to decide our next movement." Maho mentioned, "We have a weekend ahead us, though. We will have to all wait until then to see."

The weekend's seem longer when the school ships were docked in port than out at sea. Maho, Shiho and Kikuyo were all together again in the main household. While Shiho and Kikuyo were out on the balcony one day, Maho could hear their conversation from above her bedroom window.

"Will our loss against Saint Gloriana's be a major blow to our schools reputation, Madam?" Kikuyo wondered.

"It will, but not for long. Already, I have plans for who we will be fighting next."

"The students motives, Madam?" she interrupted.

"If we could both keep the students motivated and engrossed towards this, then they wouldn't think about anything else too suspicious." Shiho stated, "You keeping the students mind's on school is all I need for the time being. The assemblies will continue every Friday as usual."

Maho started thinking why her mother was so anxious on keeping the students so motivated on the topic of tankery and she wondered why her mother was also so obsessed with constant communication and observation with the students. The idea of Nishizumism returned to her mind as she quietly closed her window.

Then, she remembered something," The letter. Where is that letter from Miho at?" She began pacing around her room, thinking about where were mother had last put it.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Kikuyo and Shiho continued, "By any chance, do you know who we will be fighting next?"

"From what I've heard, our alliance schools, Anzio and Chi-Ha Tan our making huge progress against their oppositions, which leaves us slightly behind the pack. My plan is to beat another long known rival that has caused our team trouble for years."

"Who's that, Madam?" Kikuyo asked curiously.

"Pravda Girls High School."


	9. Chapter 9 - A New Nemesis

**Author's Note: Sorry that it took longer to update this story, as I said earlier that I'm trying to write two stories at once.**

* * *

When the word spread throughout the schools that the cooperation between Pravda and Kuromorimine has been cancelled, everybody held their breathes to see which school will punch the first blow at the other. Aboard the Pravda school vessel, nicknamed Kiev, Katyusha was sitting in a room with Nonna and three other girls. The other girls, that were sitting across from Katyusha and Nonna were wearing Long green coats with brown leather strap belts around their waists. The skirts that the girls were a deep blue with boots coming up almost to their kneecaps and they wore caps on their heads with the Pravda High emblem on it. They were called the PHSRE or the Pravda High Student Regulation Enforcers.

"Comrades." Katyusha cleared her throat and continued, "I've heard from my other girls that our "Friends" are no longer our friends anymore. However, you are my most modest Comrades and I feel that I should ask you if this is true or not. Is it?"

The three looked at each other for a split second and then turned back to their leader.

"Yes, it is true. The events of the breakup have really happened."

"This can't be! I knew that I couldn't have trusted them."

"We're sorry, but it's the truth."

Katyusha began to pace around the room, while mumbling something quietly to herself.

"I have helped my school with all I could do. I've "supported" the girls when problems sparked up, I've "helped" girls with questions that they didn't understand and I made the girls who were causing problems disappear from the picture! After all that, I still get lousy reports! Now, I've got THIS mess to try and sort through on top of the problem with Jatkosota's tankery team! Why is everyone making things more difficult for me!"

The chamber grew silent after Katyusha's rant of fury. After a few heavy breathes of anger, she sat back down again.

"We must be ready for when the next round of choosing begins. All of our teams must be ready for anything."

"Not to fear, Comrade Katyusha. We know that you are a fantastic leader, for your heart is as big as Siberia."

"Chilling, its made us ice, huh?" Nonna chuckle to herself.

She looked down to her shorter apprentice.

"Nonna!" Katyusha exclaimed.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked.

"Gather up all the girls and bring them her. We must discuss the subject at hand."

Nonna walked out of the chamber as Katyusha turned her attention back to the PHSRE Girls.

"Keep up your observation on these following students. Inform the other girls about this." Katyusha ordered handing the three girls a list of names and pictures.

"We promise that we won't let you down this time, Comrade Katyusha." the girls agreed.

"You better not or else..."

The tension grew not just Pravda, but also on Kuromorimine. Some of the students at Kuromorimine couldn't keep a secret and tried to tell other students about the behind the scenes document. The KCAF girls were more frequent in most of the socializing area in the school, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. In only two days, Soddoko was able to hire ten more girls to support her group. Most of the students understood when they saw an area riddled with KCAF Girls to stay far away from it as they could. The other unfortunate ones were questioned and briefed on why they were causing a disturbance on campus grounds.

One day, while walking around the city for their lunch break on the school ship, Yukari and Koume noticed that a small group of KCAF Girls were ganging up on another random student in an alleyway. Walking more slowly, the two tankery teammates watched as the small KCAF band moved closer towards the girl. They also tried to listen in on the conversation.

"Once more, you have broken Rule Number 14: Spreading confidential information for minorities to other students." said one of the girls.

"You know what that means, right?" asked another KCAF girl with a devious grin on her face.

The surrounded girl began to back up towards a wall. The last thing that Yukari and Koume saw was the KCAF inching closer to the trapped girl before the two sped away. All they heard after that was the sound of punishment in the alley and crying soon after that. The two commanders didn't say a word until they returned to school.

"I'm...I'm not so hungry anymore, Akiyama-san." Koume said with tears began to well up in her eyes.

Yukari agreed, "I know, my friend. I know."

A girl holding a piece of paper in her hands walked up to the pair of two.

"Are you Yukari Akiyama?"

"Oh, yes I am." she responded back.

"Come with me. Mrs. Nishizumi wishes to speak with you at a moments notice."

When Yukari arrived at Shiho's office, a KCAF Girl that was standing guard at the door knocked to inform her leader of the arrival of the Panzer IV Commander. She was then led inside.

"Commander Akiyama Yukari, I've called you up here for a reason." Shiho said.

"What's that?" Yukari asked with a nervous tone.

"After observing your combat skills on the battlefield, I feel that its time that you receive a promotion."

The girls nervous face suddenly lit up, "A promotion. Really?"

"Correct, and I believe that it will allow you to have more successful advantages for your role in combat. As you know, I have installed a new system of leadership to our Panzerkraft team. I feel that you have what it takes to become part of the Black Forest Peak Tri-Commissionship, to lead groups of certain positions on the battlefield."

"Sounds like an honor, Mrs. Nishizumi."

"It is. You will be paired with two other Commanders who will hold the same role as yourself. The other two students are Erika Itsumi and Riko Matsumoto."

"Ah, yes, I know these other two as well."

They will be your assistance as you are theirs. You will all keep up with orders from Kommandant Maho and combine your forces together to ensure victory for our school."

"I understand, Mrs. Nishizumi." Yukari saluted before exiting.

When she came back out to the hallway, Yukari noticed a bunch of students surrounding Kikuyo, blurting out questions about the Kuro-Pravda breakup.

"Allow me to answer all your questions with a question of my own." Kikuyo addressed.

The students began to calm down and waited for her to say her question. Yukari simply walked away from the scene.

"Have you ever asked yourself this? Who will fight next, knowing that Saint Gloriana's was a target that we couldn't defeat?" Kikuyo asked.

All the girls around her stopped for a moment to think about the response.

"I guess we really don't know besides Pravda High, Ms. Kikuyo." said a student amongst the many.

"Exactly, my friend. Plus, they've always being taught incorrectly from the way the rest of us do. Ever asked yourself also that they might think very differently than from what Mrs. Nishizumi says is best? The girls at Pravda are taught that they all fail if one fails and share every grade equally for the better. I know most of you have worked hard for your individual grades that you have and want to have the benefit's of it. If that girl that didn't prepare herself for a test fails here, then that's her own fault. Don't you all agree?"

The girls suddenly grasped the concept that Kikuyo explained and agreed to it. That night, when all the schoolgirls were either going to the schools cafeteria or the school vessels eatery's for dinner, Yukari stopped by Maho's dorm.

"What's the matter?" Maho asked opening her door, a hint of annoyance was in her voice and the look of fatigue was in her eyes.

"Sorry, Maho-san. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Nah, it's fine. I was just getting up anyways. Still, what's going on?"

"I was just wondering if you found Miho's letter yet?"

Maho's face immediately turned saddened, 'I'm afraid not yet, but I'm definitely searching for it still. Please don't worry."

"Okay, thanks. Do you want to go walk around with me for a bit? It's quite nice out tonight." Yukari asked politely.

"Sure. I need to get out and get some fresh air." Maho returned.

On the way out, the two spotted Erwin, studying a set of battle plans outside her dorm.

"Lets not disturb her, she looks concentrated right now." Maho whispered.

A couple of days later, the first match between Black Forest and Pravda was about to beginning. Many of the school brought out almost all their vehicles. Kuromorimine brought out there twenty while Pravda brought out their twenty. The area was mostly wide open fields with scattered hills and a small town of cabins, bricked buildings and a small factory in the very middle of the playing field. The teams were all preparing for battle, while Maho looked over the schools vehicle count list.

* * *

1 Tiger I

1 Tiger II

1 Panzer III

1 Panzer IV

1 StuG III

1 Jagdpanther

1 Ferdinand

1 Jagdtiger

1 Maus

4 Jagdpanzer IV's

7 Panthers

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"Okay, I already have plans for where most of these vehicles are going." Maho said to herself.

"What do you think is going to happen out there?" Yukari asked to Erika.

"Beats me, but I know that we'll tear them apart when we get to them." she said triumphantly.

"Not unless we play this strategically." Erwin called over from where she was sitting, "Rushing in to attack isn't going to work in this kind of battle."

"We could try though, couldn't we?" Yukari wondered.

"I suppose it's possible, but we need a better view of the land first."

"Good observation." Maho said.

When preparations were complete, the game's began. Both factions charged into the field of battle, all with the drive to taste victory in anyway possible. All the way on the other side, Pravda was taking positions in a nearby grove of trees, waiting for the orders from their leader to move out. Katyusha was holding the tank count list in her hands.

* * *

1 IS-2

1 KV-2

1 KV-1

1 T-28

1 SU-100

2 SU-85's

6 T-34-85's

7 T-34's

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"Listen up everyone, I will be giving out positions for your teams to move to." ordered the short leader.

"Will we strike on the town, Commander?" Nonna asked.

"Only if we need to. Otherwise, hold your assigned positions with everything you got!"

The Pravda tanks all stormed out of the tree line and out onto the battlefield. Black Forest Peak had split into two groups of nine, leaving the Maus to camp in the town and for Koume Akaboshi's Panzer III to lure enemies in as well as scout for targets. While Maho led one of the groups of nine, Yukari led Erika and the other seven. Both groups drove straight down the middle of the field, using the tall wheat stalks and surrounding hills as cover.

"Everyone, hold your fire until I give the word." Maho instructed.

"Roger that, Kommandant." said Yukari.

Looking through their periscope's and binoculars, the Black Forest teams waited for Pravda's armored charge. Minutes passed by, but no sign of any Soviet themed tanks were to be found. Finally, one of the members from a Jagdpanzer IV broke the silence.

"Should we advance?"

"Akaboshi, report your current position." asked Erika impatiently over the radio.

"The Maus and I have arrived in the town, but there's no sign of any contact from any direction." reported Koume.

"Well." Maho sighed, "Guess that means we have to..."

"Kommandant! Kommandant! I'm picking up a lot of activity on the far sectors of the map! They appear to be moving towards my position!"

"Oh man, get out of there quickly!" Yukari instructed.

"Hey, you can't just simply leave us hanging here on our own!" blurted out the Maus Commander, "What if we get overrun?"

"True, a few of Pravda's tank can penetrate your weaker spots if they're in right position to fire at them." Maho said, "We need to think of something quick, team. I never thought that this would happen out of nowhere."

There was a another long awkward silence.

"I'm sorry Koume, but you need to distract the entire army to follow you." Yukari addressed with a nervous chuckle.

A stunned Koume came over the line, "Are you crazy? How in the world am I supposed to fight them?"

"You aren't fighting them, you just need them to follow you." clarified one of the Panther Commander's.

"Okay, I sure hope this works."

"Just keep swerving back and forth. That should throw off their concentration of fire." offered Yukari.

"Thanks Akiyama-san."

The Panzer III burned out as it exited the town, right into the viewing range of Pravda's tanks.

"What the?!" Katyusha bursted, "All units, eliminate that scout!"

"Comrade, there's only one though." reported the KV-2 Commander.

"That doesn't mean shit! Keep firing at it!"

"Shells ready to fire." Nina called from below her Commander in KV-2.

The firing of Pravda's tanks began to sound as the Panzer III drove as fast as it could back to its allies. The ground around the light tank began to explode, as shell's from the enemy tried to neutralize it. Koume peaked out of the commanders hatch to see how far away Pravda's tanks were from her. Then, she turned to the town, worrying if the Super Heavy Prototype was well hidden enough or not.

Out of nowhere, a tank shell shook the back of the Panzer III and caused its end to slightly lift up for a second.

"Nonna! How could you miss?" Katyusha exclaimed.

"I'm commanding at the moment, not shooti..."

"Well, switch positions and knock out that pathetic light tank, will ya!?"

After a long drive of being shot at, Koume's teams' Panzer III took air over a hill and slammed down on the grass. The effect of the fall knocked out both of the tanks treads, right in front of Black Forest's tankery team.

"Incoming!" Koume shouted, her voice slightly cracking.

"Get ready everyone." Erwin announced.

A flood of Soviet mediums came right up behind Koume's Panzer III on the hill behind.

"OPEN FIRE!" screamed Erika.

The sound of cannon fire filled the air, as both teams lashed out in battle. Right on the spot, three T-34 Tanks were knocked out while a T-34-85 sneak a shot and wiped out a Jagdpanzer IV.

"They're retreating!"

"Don't advance." Maho instructed, "Let them go. They might be waiting for us on the other side."

"Verdammt. Anyone get eliminated?" asked Erwin.

"Only us." spoke the radio operator of the immobilized Jagdpanzer IV.

"Who's the Flag Tank?"

"We our." reported another Panther team.

Maho breathed in deep for a moment before proceeding with the command's, "Okay, listen up team. We will split off from here and take two separate routes to flank them. I need all the Lighter Tank Destroyers to go straight down the middle and attack them from there. Vice-Captain Matsumoto will lead you.

"Affirmative." said Erwin.

"I need all the Medium-Class tanks to travel down the left, this includes the Panthers and Vice-Captain Akiyama's Panzer IV. I'm going to also need the Jagdtiger to go with them as well."

"Confirmed." said Yukari.

"Lastly, I need the Heavier vehicles to follow me on the right. This includes the Tiger II, the Jagdpanther, the Ferdinand and Myself."

"I've got your back, Kommandant." Erika said.

"What about us, Kommandant?" Koume asked over the line, "We're have trouble repairing our loose tracks."

"I'm sorry, but your considered immobilized under Sensha-do Standards. There isn't anything you could do with that sort of weight."

"Jawohl. My apologizes."

"Your alright, you did your job. Now it's our turn." Maho responded with an assured face.

All the vehicles began to move forward. Immediately, the cannon fire continued. In under a minute, another three Panther's, two Jagdpanzer IV's, and the Jagdpanther was out. Alongside that, two T-34-85's and one of the SU-85's were eliminated. The Panzer IV took a few shots and managed to take out a T-34 and a T-34-85. The Jagdtiger took most of the punishment while Yukari's team did most of the shooting. It took fired a shell and knocked out a T-34.

"Flag Tank, stay behind us." announced the Jagdtiger Commander.

"I wonder how's the east going?" wondered Yukari for a moment.

Erwin's StuG III was laying down when it was hit by the KV-1.

"Nothing more we can do here." she said with a tone of dissapointance.

"Ay, I will avenge you." Yukari said.

She ordered the gunner to fire and she picked off the KV-1 with a long-ranged shot.

Katyusha turned to glance at the Panzer IV in the distance.

"Fire at that Panzer!" she called out.

The Panzer IV driver hit the stick shift in reversed and back off from Katyusha's shot. Then Katyusha turned back to see the right flank under heavy fire.

"Fall back to the town team!" she yelled out.

The crippled Pravda team started to retreat. Maho ordered all teams advance but to do so at a slower pace.

"Just wait until they reach the town. Their going to get a nasty surprise." Erika said with a devious smile on her face.

Out of nowhere, a shot hit the under glacis of Erika's Tiger II and knocked it out.

Erika was furious, "No! No! No! No! No! Who knocked us out!?" Maho peered through her binoculars to see Nonna's IS-2 peaking its gun out from behind a distant bush.

"There. I switched for you." Nonna reported to her leader.

"Much better. Keep up the process." Katyusha said back.

A second later, Katyusha's tank pulled into the town, when she noticed a trail of muddy tread markings on the ground lead into one of the small factory loading bay.

"Ha, what coward thinks that they can hide from me!" she boasted, "One of you get out and open the door and hurry."

The driver got out and pushed the button to open the door. When it finished opening, all they got was Kuromorimines Panzer VIII Maus waiting for them. The look on Katyusha's face turned from a confident smile to a petrified expression as she closed the commanders hatch.

"Driver!" she called from inside her tank, "Where the hell are you?"

It turned out the driver as ran away to a safe distance and was calling for the team to flee.

"I'm giving you all five seconds to run." the Maus Commander called.

The girls inside Katyusha's T-34-85 were terrified and couldn't move. After the countdown was finished, the giant cannon on the Maus fired a shell that flew past the Medium tank but flipped it on its side from the sheer force. When one of the girls had opened her eyes, she found that Katyusha was accidently on her face. She shrieked when got free from her spot and began wiping her face with her sleeve.

Then in a loud voice, she yelled out, "Ewwww! Our Commander wet herself!"

Katyusha's eyes wided when she heard this. Surely enough, a dark patch of liquid was spreading all under Katyusha baggy suit. The other two girls inside the tank began to laugh uncontrollable that their Comrade peed her pants.

"Grrr...All you shut up!" Katyusha's face reddened.

"At least we weren't the Flag Tank." shrugged the T-34-85 Driver.

Outside, the Maus had wondered into the town to wait for the other retreating Soviet tanks to arrive. From behind it, a shell broke a chunk of the Maus' track. Turning around its turret, it noticed a fleeing SU-100. When it was reversing, it's broken left track slid out of it rotation and stuck into the muddy earth.

"You fool, stop reversing." the Maus' Radio Operator said to the Driver.

"What's going on?" Maho asked sternly over the line.

"Uhhh...Nothing, nothing is wrong."

"Right." Maho said before turning her attention back to Nonna, who had Maho's Tiger I hiding behind a rocky cover.

"Ferdinand, I need some assistance." she asked.

"I'm on it." the Ferdinand Commander called back.

The IS-2 turned its cannon to the Heavily Armored T.D. and fired a shell into its 200mm thick frontal hull. The result was a bounce off the armor and a shell firing back into Nonna's own hull. A small white flag popped out of a entrance.

"Much appreciation." she called back.

Down in the tiny town, the Maus team was caught up on trying to get moving again, when a heavy blow to the side armor burned a hole through the plating. The shell came from the KV-2, who had waited for the Maus to be preoccupied before engaging. The alarm went off all over the battlefield, announcing that the Sisterhood of Iron Will had reign victorious over the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers once again.

"Who took the last shot?" Nonna thought.

In the distance, the T-34 Flag Tank was hit with a shell in the rear armor. The direction of the shot was fired from a hilltop, where the cannon of the Panzer IV was smoking out its nozzle.

"Fine shooting, Akiyama-san." the Jagdtiger Commander commented.

After the battle, the Panzerkraft teams returned back to their school vessels. While walking into the campus, Maho, Yukari, Erika, Koume, Erwin and all the others noticed a line of buses outside the campus. Also, a long line of girls were in formation, waiting to board the buses. KCAF Girls were observing the movement with stern faces as all the girls boarded. Koume walked over to a KCAF Girl that standing post among the lines.

"Hey, do you know what this is for?" Koume asked.

"That's none of your business, please move along."

Erika barged in, "She asked you a question."

"I said that's none of your business. Please move along." the KCAF Girl said with an inpatient tone.

From afar, Yukari noticed a girl moving through the crowd into one of the buses. It didn't take her long to know who it was.

"Mako? Is that really her?"

When Yukari tried to wander over to her, a KCAF Girl stopped her, "Move along, student. You have no business here."

"I know that girl though." the brown haired girl pointed.

"Nice to know. You won't see here again."

Yukari gasped before being shooed away. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Mako had disappeared into the bus. She hurried back to the Tankery Club. She came up to Maho and Erika, who were discussing a random subject.

"Hey, do you know where those buses are going?"

"No, because one of those snotty KCAF Girls sent us off." Erika frowned.

"Lower your tone, please Erika." Maho snapped, 'Sit with us so we could try and sort this through."

A few days later, a report came on T.V. interviewing about the battle between Saunders and Chi Ha-Tan. When the camera turned around the battlefield, the land was a mess. The beach setting had sand that was covered in black oil and knocked out M4 Sherman's were scattered everywhere. The shallow clear blue water was changing color from a few leaking Chi Ha-Tan tanks that were knocked over in it and a bunch of concrete prop building were broken all over the place. A girl from Saunders' team was being interviewed, saying that Chi Ha-Tans' team came out of nowhere and that the match was an utter disaster for Saunders University High.

"This tournament might work well for us after all." Shiho said before turning off the TV in the teachers lounge and returning to her office.


	10. Chapter 10 - Shifting Sands

The weekend came once more, which equaled freedom for a short period of time. While viewing over a list of notes needed on the next battlefield, Kikuyo came out from the house. Maho expected to see Kikuyo in her traditional robes, but instead saw her in her business suit she wears during school.

"You are studying. That is a wise way to use your time." she commented.

"Kikuyo, I have a few questions to ask you." Maho said.

"Please, do tell me your concerns, Lady Maho."

Maho shifted her self in her chair and turning to the woman standing next to her, "The other day, I'm sure you know this, there were dozens of students being loaded onto buses. Could you tell me why they were boarding?"

Kikuyo's small smile turned into an expressionless face, "They are the students that Madam Nishizumi says are "Slackers" and "Feeble Minded". They think that not supporting our school is a good idea and that they should only care about themselves. Their grades and academics fall below the limit line that was put up and they don't support the ideas of the Principle."

"Where are they going, though?" Maho asked again.

"From all the news that's been given out, they are going to another campus elsewhere on the school ship. That campus is full of them, for once there, they will be taught the plans of the Kuromorimine objective differently from yours."

Maho stared down at the papers at the table, "What do think about my mothers plans with the Nishizumism idea, Kikuyo?"

"I have told you in the past, that I am indebted to the Nishizumi Household. This means that I cannot comment on anything that Madam Nishizumi says or does."

Quickly realizing her error, Maho tried to change the subject.

"Do you have anything else to ask?" Kikuyo questioned.

"No, that is all I have for the moment. Thanks."

The student council had gathered into the chamber to discuss the progress of the removal plan for the "Slackers" and "Feeble Minded" that Shiho had installed. The girls waited in the big meeting chamber until both Shiho and Kikuyo arrived. While on their way, Shiho and Kikuyo ran into Sodoko rushing herself to the direction of the door.

"Meeting in the council chamber." Shiho snapped.

Once all the student council members and all KCAF members had arrived and seated themselves, Shiho, Sodoko and Kikuyo came and sat at their three podiums on stage. Shiho cleared her throat and began:

"Before we begin the briefing, I would like to announce our victory in our first battle against Pravda High and the victories of Chi-Ha Tan and Anzio."

The girls in the crowd murmured to themselves for a few seconds before clapping.

"Also, we are preparing our Sensha-do team for their next battle. It will be one against many, much like our first battle against the other elite academy's. The opponents will be Saint Gloriana's, with a few teams from Koala Forest Academy and a few from B.C. Free School. This conflict will be harsh and grueling if we were to fight alone. However, we have received some support from our "Nearby Neighbors" and they were able to collide with our current forces to expand the strength of the Sisterhood of Iron Will for this fight."

"Who is the support in our battle, Mrs. Nishizumi?" a girl asked within the crowd of student council members.

"You will see soon enough." Sodoko added.

A few days later, Yukari was helping her crew wash their Panzer IV, when Yukari noticed a familiar face from the corner of her eye. Turning around, she saw Anchovy herself accommodated with the Anzio Panzerkraft team, following Erwin to their vehicles. It seemed unusual to her to why Anzio would be on Kuromorimine, let alone in the schools tank garage. Instead of barging into their conversation, the tank loving girl kept to herself.

"Can we start drying it now, Commander?" asked Yukari's Driver after her own inspection of every spot of the Panzer.

"Uhh...Yeah, sure. Go ahead." Yukari hesitated.

She noticed that Erwin had departed from Anchovy and the others and was walking over to the Panzer IV.

"How is your machine holding up?" she asked.

"It great. It operated just like it did back in the..."

The feeling of Ooarai came back to the two Commanders. They remembered when they were fighting for the survival of the school before it was closed down. Yukari remembered the faded Anglerfish pattern that used to be on the sides of the Panzer IV turret, which now is replaced by a Black Forest Peak Iron Cross. To Akiyama at that moment, the tan colored Panzer IV seemed like a stranger to her eyes.

"My friend, are you alright?" addressed the troubled voice of Erwin.

Shaking her head, Yukari snapped out of her immediate daze and back to reality again.

"Oh. I must have faded off for a second. Its just that this tank brings back memories of the past to me."

Erwin fastened her German peaked officers cap onto her head, "Ah, yes. Indeed it is a good fighting machine. With your commanding skills, I feel confident that you bring both the crew and yourself to victory in it."

"You're right. I do feel though that its not the same as it used to be." said Yukari with a soft sigh.

"I'm sure that you will forget about it soon enough."

The brown haired girl changed the subject when Maho and Erika were walking over to the two.

"What are you two discussing?" Erika asked.

Yukari swiftly thought of something up to tell Erika, "Battle strategies. This battlefield will be huge from what the maps show."

"Quite right. The terrain is very complex and will provide a challenge for our vehicles to fight in." Erika confirmed.

"Strategical thinking will lead our forces to victory." Maho added, "Not to mention that Anzio Girls High School is supporting our forces in battle."

"I wouldn't replace numbers with more firepower if I had the choice to." Erika boasted pridefully.

"Only when you become the Overall Kommandant yourself." Erwin chuckled.

Erika began to feel a sense of irritation in her mind but was fast to think otherwise.

"Hey Commander! Could you give us a hand with this drying!?" one of the Panzer IV crew members called.

"Ja, I'll be there in a second!" Yukari called back, "I have to help my team out. See you soon."

After seeing her friend rush back to her group, Erika did the same. This left Maho and Erwin alone with each other. Just then, the doors at the end of the Tankery Garage flung open as Shiho, accompanied by two KCAF girls at each of her sides, walked towards the two commanders.

"Riko Matsumoto?" Shiho asked.

"That is me, Mrs. Nishizumi." Erwin responded.

"I have something to tell you."

Shiho made a quick nod towards her daughter. Maho suddenely realized that it was an indication for her to walk away. So, she did silently.

The tall woman proceeded: "Besides me leading the major planning for your teams positions, I've decided to let you command as leader of a small band of teammates that I will be sending over to you. I feel that since your combat skills have increased much in the last few games that you have what it takes to lead a larger force into battle."

"It sounds like an honor, Mrs. Nishizumi. However, I thought Maho plans our battles out."

"Times change. From this point onward, I will be the illustrator of our Sensha-do teams' planning and plotting methods."

Erwin accepted to the new terms and listened to Shiho's instructions.

"Here is what I want you to do: You will be the leader of a few of our Panzerkraft teams, as well as a few from Anzio. I'm putting all my trust into you to see them through, as Kommandant Maho would look over her assigned teams as well."

"If that is what you wish for, then it is that I will follow." Erwin replied with a tone of confidence.

"Very good. I will bring over the girls shortly so you could introduce them." Shiho said before walking over to Maho.

Erwin figured that Shiho would talk about a similar topic to her daughter next. Afterwards, a large group of girls from both Anzio's Tankery Club and from Black Forest Peak's own came walking over to the Cap Wearing Commander. Maho was getting the same sort of crowd as she was getting. Erwin felt a sense of leadership flow through her veins.

"My fellow tankettes. Listen closely, so I could layout the plans for all of you to see."

* * *

(Two Days Later - 1200 Hours)

* * *

A bright white ball of scorching fire hung in the sky over the blazing sands of the next Sensha-do battleground. The dust of the arid landscape was ready for the mighty forces that were about to push across it. A large ridgeline split the field in half, with two base on each side of it for both teams to start at. Two narrow dirt roads wrapped around the ridge, as they were the only way to get from one side to the other. At the line of the ridge, was a small oasis and a tiny abandoned village. Both sides of the ridgeline had their own giant water hole.

In the shade of the Sisterhood of Iron Wills' starting base, a group of tanks waited for the word that Erwin and Erika would give to move forward. Maho, Yukari, Anchovy and a few others had gone ahead of them to survey the landscape ahead, before sending out the main attacking force in which Shiho had ordered Erwin to command. A chattering sound was heard over the radio inside the T.D., detailing everything that the first force was seeing. Maho's voice came over the line.

"Scouting fleet has successfully spotted the location of enemy vehicles. Returning to base now." Maho reported in a hushed tone.

The map and papers on a small table near Erwin's StuG III showed the entire battlefield layout, as well as the list of vehicles that the Sisterhood of Iron Will was using in the engagement. While trying to reach over to grab the sheet off the table, Erwin fell face first into the sand, her hat falling off her head. The nearby girls that were in the shade waiting as well began to giggle at the sight of it. Erika gave them a dirty look which quickly caused them to stop.

"Aye. Don't let it bother you." Erika responded as Erwin was getting back to her feet again.

Resuming her original task, she grabbed the paper off the table and read it to herself.

* * *

1 Tiger I

1 Tiger II

1 Panzer III

1 Panzer IV

1 StuG III

1 Jagdpanther

1 Carro Armato P40

3 Jagdpanzer IV's

3 Semoventi da 75/18's

3 Carri Veloci CV.33's

4 Panthers

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"The count of our vehicles numbers has reached a max once more." Erwin said to herself.

"I'm hot!" complained a girl from one of Anzio's teams, "When are we going to attack?"

Erika rolled her eyes, "When we get the word to. Until then, please have patience."

In the far distance, Erwin could see the brigade of tanks returning from their observation run. They all parked their vehicles at the entrance and came into the base. The main leaders of the group got in a circle.

"What did you see, Kommandant?" Erika asked.

"They're staying put. I'm not sure for how long but they're standing strong." said Maho.

"Perhaps, we could hit them all at once from both sides?" Anchovy suggested, "Then, they will be enclosed."

"That's a risk that I'm not willing to take." Erwin said.

"She's right. We need to think this strategically if we are going to win." said Yukari.

"The ridgeline above looks like a good place to snipe on. Could suppressing fire be necessary for our advancement?" offered Erika pointing to the ridge behind the base.

"Yes, it might help. However, the wind speeds up there are different from down here. What if there was too much dust blinding the gunners view?"

"We need to think of something. The enemy could be advancing right now for all we know!" Anchovy blurted out.

"They aren't. When I fought against them in the past, they would be very leeriest of following a group of tanks that easily." Yukari mentioned.

"Lets all strike at once, but move at different times to distract the enemies movement on one for the other." said Maho.

"Looks like there's no other options, then. I'll follow you." said Anchovy.

Erwin stepped forward, "Alright. I will command nine plus myself to the southern flank while Nishizumi can command the other nine to the northern flank."

With that being said, the girls prepared themselves for the strike. Meanwhile, the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers were preoccupying themselves with a plan of their own. While over watching the sandy terrain from a high observation tower, Darjeeling looked over the vehicle count for the battle that was about to begin.

* * *

1 Churchill VII

1 AT-2

1 Char B1

2 AMX 40's

3 Cromwell's

3 Sherman Firefly's

4 Matilda's

5 Crusaders

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

There was a clanking sound as one of the Panzerfahren Peacekeeper girls climbed up to the top of the ladder behind Darjeeling. She turned around to see a girl poke her head out of the hole in the floor of the watch tower.

"Everything is loaded. We are ready to advance." said the girl.

"Very well. Tell everyone to pile in and wait at the base entrance." Darjeeling said putting her binoculars back around her neck.

Soon after that was said, the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers were pulling out of the camp and out into the sandy hills of the desert. A shot came from afar and caused the entire group to turn on defense. From a distance, one of the teams from Koala Forest Academy spotted a Jagdpanzer IV on the ridge. The group on the southern flank, under control of Erwin, began to open fire on the frenzy. The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers began to split apart from each other and took cover behind the sand covered hill. When they were not looking, the Sisterhood of Iron Will lost two Jagdpanzer IV's.

"Watch yourselves over there." warned Yukari.

Another few rounds of shells flew through the air until both factions were out of sight of each other. On the top of the ridgeline, a Panther and a Carro Veloci CV.33 slid back into cover.

"Should we advance?" asked the driver from one of the Crusaders.

"Cautiously." Darjeeling ordered.

"How are we going to engage on them now?" Erika anxiously wondered.

"Call the Panzer III to go out and distract them." said Erwin.

Maho's Tiger I pulled up next to Koume and her Panzer III.

"Be more careful about where your crew is driving when escaping this time. I don't want you to end up like you did in the Pravda match." Maho said.

"Understood." Koume confirmed.

Then she charged around the side of the ridge. To the teams surprise, there was no sign of force shown. In fact, there appeared to be no enemies in sight at all. Driving a little further onward, she stopped at the limits of the Oasis Village.

"I see one of them!" cried a girl from a Panther.

"Do you have a clear shot?" Erwin asked.

"Yes, but the shot is risky. The target is a gun nozzle that's sticking out from behi..."

"Are you crazy!? You can't hit that!" Erika blurted out.

"Maybe she could draw it up further?" Yukari offered.

"I can distract them into coming over to me." said Koume.

"If that's what's going to happen, then do it carefully." Maho said.

A shot came from the northern flank as Anchovy rushed out into the open and knocked out a Sherman Firefly in the process. She hid behind a large boulder. All the teams were shocked at seeing a weak armored heavy tank attack a target and escape to cover untouched. Koume immediately took this as here cue to charge.

"Now! Open fire, squad!" shouted Erika.

More smoke puffed out from the sides of the flanks, with two more Panzerfahren Peacekeeper tanks eliminated in the attack, a Crusader and a Matilda. However, they returned the volley by shooting back from behind cover. The southern flank resumed firing at the incoming flood of tanks but kept on missing with each continuous shot fired. When the girls from Anzio saw Koume and her Panzer III team distracting the enemy, they assumed that they could too.

"I declare a charge!" Pepperoni declared, "Who's with me?"

Yukari raised an eyebrow, "Why would you do that?"

It was already too late. The three Semoventi da 75/18's and two of the three Carro Veloci CV.33's had rushed out into the open to cause damage to their foes. Like before, many of them were unable to cause any critical damage to their opponents' armor and were more like a nuisance than an actual threat.

"What are you doing? You are going to make us falter." Erwin bursted out.

Kuromorimine managed to knock out a Matilda and an AMX 40 during the distraction and caused the flag tank of the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers to slip out of safety. The Crusaders caused trouble for the Sisterhood of Iron Will as well, knocking out a Panther and almost wiping out Erwin's StuG III.

"Blasted light tanks are causing us problems." a girl from the Char B1 complained.

"Fight back." said Darjeeling, "You have the fire power to do so."

"Another shell is ready for fire." Orange Pekoe replied.

"All units advance!" Darjeeling ordered.

The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers began to push on. Splitting into groups of two, they started to drive the Sisterhood of Iron Will back around the ridge. Anchovy waited behind the boulder for the enemy to spot her, but she was apparently forgotten by her hunters. Sneaking up from behind, a Cromwell snagged the opportunity and eliminated the Carro Armato P40.

"Keep the heat on them. We will break through soon."

Maho's voice got on the line, "Protect our Flag Tank at all costs."

Erwin fired a few more rounds into her targets and immobilized a Cromwell. Then, the AT-2 appeared from behind the dune. It shot the StuG III in the track and stopped its movement.

"Oh no, Commander! Now what?" asked the StuG III's Driver.

"Verdammt! Gunner can you get a clear shot?"

"No. The armor looks too thick." the Gunner responded.

Just as all hope for escape was lost, the AT-2 began to rattle violently and a white flag popped out of the top of it. Emerging from behind the T.D. was Black Forest's Panzer III.

"Hurry. The rest of the team needs us." Koume said over the radio.

"I appreciate your help." Erwin replied back.

As the two vehicles retreated behind the ridge, they both took one last look at the dunes of the battlefield behind them. Every Semoventi da 75/18 had been knocked out and two of the three Carri Veloci CV.33's had been wiped out as well. The duel between the two had resulted in the retreating of the Sisterhood of Iron Will and the advancement of the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers. When the Panzer III and the StuG III had reunited with the other Kuromorimine and Anzio tanks, an incident between the teams broke out. Soon, everyone was shouting at each other all at once.

"I thought you said that your plan would work!?" shouted a girl while pointing her finger at Erwin.

"What are we to do, Nishizumi? Matsumoto?"

"I don't want to lose again."

"What if my track gets shot off?"

"They could be here any minute now!"

"I'm hot and tired and I wanna home!"

Maho, Koume, Yukari and Erwin realized that the problem had gone too far and Maho told Erika to yell the rest of the team into shape again.

"Alright! Stop it, right now!" Erika bursted out with anger.

An awkward silence settle upon the Sisterhood of Iron Wills' base. Erwin stepped forward and began to speak, "Listen here. We have no other choice but to defend. I apologize if our attack failed to advance into our opponents position but there were a few errors that we all made."

"I can say that my Duce didn't make the best decision back there." Carpaccio admitted with a feeling of guilt, "I should have said something."

"We should have all known better." Yukari said, "Now that we are on total defense, we can try our best to defend our Flag Tank the best we can, while trying to stop theirs at the same time."

"Lets all try to formulate a plan so that we will be prepared for when they do show up." Maho insisted.

All the girls looked at each other and came to an agreement shortly after. A shot fired from atop the ridgeline, as the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers began to pound the base of their foes below with cannon fire.

"Quickly! Get the Flag Tank in that garage where its safer!" shouted Erika.

The Flag Tank was a Panther that was stored away into the nearby factory garage in the base. Their enemies began to slowly navigate down the ridge, taking care not to break their tracks or get stuck on the way downhill. The Panzerfahren Peacekeepers lost two Matilda's on the way down and a Crusader that flipped over from the fall. The crews that made it down safely began to encircle the Sisterhood of Iron Wills' base, hoping to throw off the teams accuracy at hitting any targets.

"I can't get a clear shot."

"Keep on them, will ya?" Erika answered.

The StuG III started to drive backwards from the base to get an able shot on the enemy. Maho's Tiger I was on a distant sand dune and was picking off any tanks that came into her crews sight. In the base, the Jagdpanther was eliminated by Darjeeling's Churchill VII that plowed into it. The girls worked together one by one to clear the way for the Panther hiding in the garage.

"Open it up and stand back!" called a girl from an AMX 40.

Surely enough, the Panther was waiting and fired a shell for the Churchill VII's armor, but missed by a small window of space. There was a sound of scraping as the Panzer III fired a shell into the Churchill VII's track, but was eliminated by the heavy tanks cannon before it was able to flee. While trying to reload, Orange Pekoe accidently knocked over the shells. She gasped as she tried to pick one up. It was already too late when Erika's Tiger II fired a round point blank into the Churchill VII's rear hull armor.

"Finally, I've got you." Erika growled.

Then, out of nowhere, a shot hit the Panther Flag Tank and knocked it out. A lucky Cromwell managed to fire a round into the Panther, just as Yukari's Panzer IV shot the Cromwell itself. The battle was over and once again, the Sisterhood of Iron Will was defeated. Erwin felt bad after she took the motive of leading a team into battle alongside Maho but failed to accomplish the goal in the long run. After the match was over, the team returned back to the school ship.

"Mrs. Nishizumi isn't going to be happy about this." Erika cringed.

Maho silently sighed to herself, "Nishizumism. It seems like Mother can't get enough of anything."


	11. Chapter 11 - Fighting Frostbite

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait everyone. I was on vacation all of last week and I was away for a long time. Since I've returned back home, all that I have been doing is planning and writing. Please enjoy, this next battle will be in two parts, so expect some action happening.**

**I do not own the song Katyusha or anything that has to do with its written lyrics.**

* * *

"Losing is unacceptable!"

Katyusha shouted at a girl from across the room. After a failure to crush Kuromorimine in the first match against them, all of Pravda High was beginning to think that another year of defeat for the Tankery Club was inedible. Two more girls came into the chamber wondering what the noise was about.

"What?" asked Katyusha impatiently.

"Why are you so upset, Comrade Katyusha?"

Immediately, the short girl ordered the two to be escorted out and be 'purged' to the public's showing. Since the defeat, Katyusha began to demand that the girls referred her to as, "Our Great Leader Comrade Katyusha" or "Great Comrade Katyusha." On the way out the door, a few more girls came into the chamber.

Katyusha rolled her eyes to their appearance, "What is it?"

"Oh, our Great Leader Comrade Katyusha, we are here to inform you that our Sensha-do delivery has arrived on time."

Right there and then, Katyusha's expression turned from bitter to passive and her temper began to slowly simmer down once more.

"Good. Have they been unboxed and taken to the storage yet?" she asked.

"Da and Comrade Nonna is waiting for you to speak to other girls in the garage."

"Fine. I will be there soon." said Katyusha.

In the garages, the Tankery Club was standing around a large pile of metal pieces and spare parts that have been delivered. Katyusha was greeted by her comrades who saluted her as she approached. Katyusha walked around the pile of hardware and began to inspect each piece as if she was a judge in a contest. Nonna walked forward and greeted her commander.

"Are they favorable enough for you?" Nonna asked.

The short girl thought to herself for a moment before responding.

"Quite favorable, these parts look perfect for our vehicles. The details of the next battle have came to me last night and I'll run updates on them for you."

Katyusha turned to the others in the garage, "Same goes for all of you! The enemy is going to strike us with a devastating blow! We must not lose this battle or it will equal disqualification from the game!"

The other began to cry out, "We won't disappoint you, Great Comrade Katyusha! Our weapons and armor will repeal their dreaded forces once and for all."

"Just to make sure of that, I have a new way of how we will make sure that our victory is achieved. Me and my fellow assistant, Nonna, has formatted a plan to ensure that no one here will be a coward during this engagement. We have named it: The Pravda Protocol - Double Two Seven.

Nonna stepped forward and began to speak with a chilling voice.

"Comrades, you have all shown emotions of worry and distress in the last battle against Black Forest. Our Great Leader, Comrade Katyusha, is very displeased by this sort of cowering and as a result of it has made sure that you don't disappoint her again. The rule is simple: Attack, Attack, Attack and never turn back. If you fail to follow this order, your tank will be dealt with by ME specifically."

Everyone knew about Nonna's skill of fighting in battle, how her cold demeanor and dead eye accuracy was well recognized. The thought of having their tank get into trouble with her fearsome D-25T 122mm Gun meant that no good would come their way. On top of this, many knew how dead serious the tall girl was when she addressed Katyusha's Agenda and how if broken, the kind of punishment they would receive. Katyusha looked contently upon her fellow teammates.

"Now that this little deal is all sorted out, let us begin looking over this received hardware."

In the pile of metal layed a vast array of different armored plates and one or two new cannons that could be mounted on two of the many T-34-85's. The girls began to pull aside parts and started to sort through the ones of their liking. Nina, the short and stout loader for the KV-2, came up to Katyusha and Nonna slowly.

"Great Comrade Katyusha, some of these pieces of plating are in different sizes." said Nina, "What if we can't find the right size that we need?"

Nonna pointed towards the door, "Take it down to the hot metals and machine shop and let the girls there cut it down to your liking size."

"Of course, we must deposit these slabs of armored plating equally." Katyusha proudly addressed.

The Sensha-do team let out a loud "URA!" before their continued search. When nobody was looking, Katyusha snatched herself an unequal amount of plates for herself. Behind her, Nonna watched from a distance. Katyusha slid a finger across her neck and gagged, symbolizing the penalty if any trouble was caused or if the truth was told. Standing guard at the entrance to the tank garage were three PHSRE girls, each watching over everyone like a hawk under Katyusha's orders.

"Nonna!" Katyusha called.

The tall girl walked towards her, "You wanted something?"

"I wish to show you something. Since our little conflict we had with the Nishizumi's last battle, I've decided that it was time for me to get myself an upgrade on a tank." said Katyusha.

"It's probably something expensive, isn't it?" Nonna asked.

"Wha...Not really! Besides, I know that this vehicle will make short work of our enemies once they take a glimpse at it."

The two walked to the back of the garage to a large tank that was covered by a red tarp. Yanking the tarp off, Nonna was treated to Katyusha's brand new KV-1S that was colored dark green and had a white stripe wrapping around the turret. A big red 18 was written on both sides of the turret.

"Behold! My new secret weapon! Those fools will never see it coming."

Aboard Kuromorimine, the Tankery team had all gathered together for a briefing called upon by Maho herself. Once all the girls were seated, she stepped on the podium with a long wooden ruler in her hands.

"Ladies. We are competing against Pravda again. Like last time, we must have a plan."

The girls of Black Forest Peak were all sitting on the edge of their chairs, waiting to hear about the strategies of the next harsh battle which would take place soon. Maho stood at the front of the dark room, having the light from the projector shine on her body and white board like a painter covered in white paint.

Maho took hold of the long ruler, "Before I get into tactics, I want to inform you about the type of climate that we will be fighting in. It's frost, snow and the bone biting cold: three of our schools greatest obstacles."

Erika raised her hand, "I can't see why those are our 'Greatest Obstacles', Kommandant?"

"We have very little experience in these sort of climates and because of this, we are somewhat vulnerable to Pravda."

"I remember fighting in these temperatures last year and it was no easy fight." said Yukari.

Maho continued, "Right...This map will be huge. Much bigger than any map that we've ever fought on."

"Bigger than last years finals?" asked Erika.

"Much bigger. It composes a variety of fighting types: Close, long and mid ranges. Each of our vehicles will be used for a different purpose." clarified the Nishizumi Heiress, "The map will be cut in half, one half will be urban fighting while the other half will be winter woodland combat."

"If at anytime, could we use our SAT-25 RAIN shells that we are supplied with?" asked the feminine voice of Koume Akaboshi.

Maho thought to herself for a moment, "Make use of them. Do so wisely. Besides that, is there anything else that someone wants to ask?"

The room was silent.

"Very well. We have our orders and duties. Akiyama-san, Matsumoto-san and Erika-san will be my Vice Captains."

"Where is Matsumoto-san even at?" Erika asked.

"She is not feeling well, so she is not present today. However, I will inform her on our goals, so she will be ready for when the match comes." Yukari stated.

"I hope so because she is one of our finest fighters." Koume added.

After the briefing has ended, the bell rang to symbolize the end of another school day. Once the team stepped outside, a breeze of cold air struck their warm faces.

"Is it me or is it colder than it was yesterday?" wondered one of the Jagdpanzer IV Commanders.

"It's definitely colder." said Yukari pointing to the sky.

Maho stopped, "We are heading up north to battle Pravda. Now you know when I said, 'Cold Climates'?"

"I wasn't expecting it to be this cold before we get there."

"Poor excuse." Erika groaned under her breath while walking away.

Maho walked towards the direction of the dormitory buildings to retire for the day. On her way, a piece of wet paper floated down from the sky and landed on the ground near her feet. Finding interest in it, she took with her. In the comfort of her private campus dorm, Maho unfolded the paper on her bed to let it dry.

Later that evening, she returned to it and began to skim over the sheet. It looked like a political cartoon, with a large array of colorful characters on it. Maho was surprised in the amount of detail in how the picture was drawn and how there were chibi girls pointing at each other in rage about something. It began to dawn on her that they were the main commanders of the major schools that had Panzerkraft in it, each standing on a miniature version of their schools emblem that was floating in the water. Darjeeling, Katyusha and Nonna (who Katyusha was on top of) were pointing at Maho, while Kay and Nishi from Chi-Ha Tan were pointing at each other and Anchovy and Maho were pointing at Katyusha and Nonna. All the girls were looking up at a giant hand that was pointing to a girl that was on top of a burning tank on the far end of the picture. The burning girl was holding a torn and blooded white flag in her hand that had the words culture, tradition and sportsmanship written on it. In a speech bubble that had words written in bold yellow letters, a sentence in Japanese said, "戦車 景気 平和 は 誰 邪魔?" (**"Who Disturbed The Peace In Sensha-do?"**).

Maho was troubled by the sight of the artwork, "Disturbed the peace in Sensha-do? Why am I the one being blamed on the most for it?"

The very sight of the cartoon somewhat frightened Maho to the point where she folded the paper, opened her door, seeing to make sure nobody was in the halls and speed walked her way to her mothers office. She knocked on the door and apparently opened it with the few knocks that she did. After making sure no one was around, she went inside the office. After placing the picture on Shiho's desk, she felt the nerve to find Miho's letter. While searching around the desk, Maho noticed an aged envelope under a pile of books.

"I believe this is it." she said to herself.

After placing it under her clothing, where the skirt and the shirt of her uniform meet, she slid out of the office undetected. While walking out of the administrative building, Maho came across Kikuyo at the entrance.

"Hello there, Lady Maho." she happily addressed.

Maho paid no attention to the woman and continued back outside. Kikuyo arrived at Shiho's office with the stack of files in hand. Upon entering, Kikuyo saw Shiho at her desk overviewing the picture that Maho had left behind.

"What is that your reading, Miss?"

Shiho looked up, "Did you put this here?"

"No, Madam Nishizumi." Kikuyo shook her head.

Shiho handed her apprentice the sheet, "Please, go put this through the paper shredder immediately."

When Kikuyo left, Shiho grumbled to herself and scowled at the mirror across from her desk. Opening a hidden cabinet under her desk that's securely tightened by a padlock, Shiho pulled out a small shot glass and a big glass bottle of Nikka Taketsuru 21 Whiskey. She thought for a moment before putting the shot back into the cabinet, popping off the silver cap on top of the reddish brown bottle and took a long swig straight from the bottle itself.

"Children." she muttered.

Meanwhile, on another wing of the same dormitory building, Yukari was with Erwin in her dorm. The two were overviewing the battle plans for the fight against Pravda High.

"This strategy looks pretty well layed out. The retreat path will be a problem, though." Erwin blew her nose in a tissue near her bedside.

"Why is that?" Yukari asked.

"The place where this is located is very high north, which means that safety hazards will be abundant. The snow levels in that sector is very deep and thick. I honestly don't think that's the best direction to flee in."

"Well...What do you propose?"

Erwin pointed with her index finger to a part in the city portion of the map, "This road is not that covered. That could be our lucky escape plan if things go wrong."

Yukari placed the battle map on her lap, "Should I inform Maho-san on this for you?"

"Yes. It's best that we do so immediately." Erwin said before sneezing into the sleeve of her long nightshirt.

"I'm worried about your health. You think that you will be well again in three days?"

"Oh, I will be fine, my friend." Erwin chuckled, "It's just a small cold. I will get over it."

Looking outside, the two noticed that small flakes of snow were beginning to softly drift down from above. They knew that in a few days, the snow that they will be battling in will be almost like a blizzard.

* * *

(Three Days Later - 2100 Hours)

* * *

A smoke shot fired into the sky, symbolizing the start of another brutal fight between two long heated rivals. While Kuromorimine was storming towards the outskirts of the snow covered city from the barren and frozen plains, Pravda had all of their team members gather together to hear Katyusha's speak before the charge.

"Brave Comrades! Tonight and tomorrow will be one of the finest days that you will ever fight in your high school Panzerkrafting days! The enemy will be strong but you... YOU are stronger than they are! See that city there! That is your objective, comrades! Make sure that our Flag Tank is secure and obliterate theirs! Every single one of you must remember my orders with the Pravda Protocol - Double Two Seven: Attack, Attack, Attack and never fall back! If you do retreat, Nonna will take the pleasure of helping you understand the protocol much better! Aside from that, get to your assigned post and fight with all the will you have for the pride of Pravda High School!"

"URA!" shouted the crowd of girls from below.

A pair of giant motorized floaters, much like the ones that Saint Gloriana's used in the fight against Black Forest with Maginot, waited for the vehicles to board them. Once they were moving, the entire school bursted out in song, chanting the old Soviet war song, only known as Katyusha/Катю́ша.

* * *

**TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN**

Rastvitali yablani i grusha  
Paplyli tumani nat rikoy  
Vykhadila na byerik katyusha  
Na vysoky byerik na krutoy

Vykhadi, pyenyu zavadila  
Pra stipano, sizava arla  
Pra tavo katorava lyublila  
Pra tavo tchi pisma birigla

Oy, ty, pyesnya, pisyenka divikhchya  
Ty liti za yasnym soltsim fslyet  
I voytsu dalyech pagraduchye  
Ot katyushi pirigay privyet

Pust' on fspomnit dyevushku prastuyu  
Pust' islychit, kak ana payot  
Pust' on zyemlyu birizhot radnuyu  
A lyubov' katyusha sbirizhot

Rastvitali yablani i grusha  
Paplyli tumani nat rikoy  
Vykhadila na byerik katyusha  
Na vysoky byerik na krutoy

**ENGLISH TRANSLATION**

Apple and pear trees were a-blooming,  
mist was creeping on the river,  
Katyusha set out on the banks,  
On the steep and lofty bank.

She was walking, singing a song,  
about a grey steppe eagle.  
About her true love,  
whose letters she was keeping.

Oh you song! Little song of a maiden,  
head for thr bright sun,  
and reach for the soldier on the far away border,  
Along with greeting from Katyusha.

Let him remember and ordinary girl,  
and hear how she sings,  
let him preserve the motherland,  
Same as Katyusha preserves their love.

Apple and pear trees were a-blooming,  
mist was creeping down the river,  
Katyusha set out on the banks,  
On the steep and lofty bank.

* * *

After the song was over, Pravda had landed on the other side of the river. Katyusha kept more to the back of the group while Nonna led the charge. The snow in the streets would cause the mobility of most old tanks to falter and become unstable, but it was the type of training that Pravda High had perfected in. While trying to get into the city, the girls of Kuromorimine ran into problems of their own.

The snow was catching the most of the tanks' treads and caused them to suddenly stop. The teams Jagdpanther got a track buried in the snow, resulting in the crew overheating their engine and disqualifying themselves trying to get out.

"Are you kidding me! First our track, now our engine!"

Erika's Tiger II's engine kept stalling and had to be restarted repeatedly. Even the mighty Panzer VIII Maus couldn't escape the problem of sinking into the white environment due to it's weight. While watching all the shenanigans from her commanders hatch of her Tiger I, Maho reviewed the list of vehicles that Black Forest was using in the battle.

* * *

1 Tiger I

1 Tiger II

1 Panzer III

1 Panzer IV

1 StuG III

1 Jagdpanther

1 Ferdinand

1 Jagdtiger

1 Maus

4 Jagdpanzer IV's

7 Panthers

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"At the rate that we are going, it will take all night for us to get to where we need to be." Maho sighed.

As the brigade began to get closer to the city limits, the snow layer on the ground began to lighten up. The streets were paved with burnt out old cars and sandbags. There was even a destroyed AA gun post that was lying broken in one of the streets. Sleet caused the tanks to become very slippery and unstable on the cobblestone roads. Finally, Maho gave the orders out to her team.

"I need all the Tank Destroyers to take the left and right flanks, while the heavies and mediums go straight down the middle." she ordered.

"I'm going to need the Maus to hide until I give the orders to move. Lastly, I need the Panzer III and the StuG III to go ahead of us and draw the enemy towards our forces. Now, move out and stay together."

The tanks all began to split apart and charge to their assigned positions. Pravda was waiting at the very middle of a giant square that was located within the heart of the city. All the tanks were positioned at every street corner, awaiting the moment when they would fire upon there enemies with all they've got. A sound was coming down one of the streets.

"Quiet! I think I hear someone coming." said one of the girls from a T-34-85.

Suddenly, a Panzer III came roaring past the crew resulting in that T-34-85 crew going berserk. The sound of cannon fire grabbed the attention of all the other tanks in the area. When Katyusha looked over her shoulder, a T-34-85 were eliminated by shots to the armored hull. In a frenzy, the short leader slipped a paper out from inside her tank.

* * *

1 IS-2

1 KV-2

1 KV-1

1 T-28

1 KV-1S

1 SU-100

2 SU-85's

5 T-34-85's

7 T-34's

**TOTAL NUMBER OF TANKS: **20 Vehicles Registered

* * *

"Agh! Crush them!" she yelled.

The StuG III quickly slipped backwards behind a building and waited for the firing to cease before poking around the corner again for another shot. By that time, the rest of Kuromorimines reinforcements had arrived to help out with the fight. The night air was soon full of smoke and the sound of gunfire. Kuromorimine lost a Panther in the process of pushing forward and Pravda had lost a T-34 is the process of defending the Flag Tank.

"We must fall back! Retreat!" cried the team of an SU-85.

"Turn around! Keep going forward! What the hell do you think your doing!?" Katyusha hollered over the radio, "Traitors! Nonna, finish them!"

The IS-2 turned its gun towards the reversing SU-85 and fired a shell into the snow underneath it, the blast causing the tank to flip over onto its side. Out of the corner of her eye, Nonna snagged a T-34 trying to slip backwards behind a building.

Erika was stunned from what she just witnessed, "What in the world are they doing? Kommandant, they are shooting their own team."

"Let them. It will give us a huge advantage in this situation." Maho calmly said.

The fighting continued on with one blazing shot being fired after another. Finally, the time came when the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers had to fall back or be destroyed by the Sisterhood of Iron Will.

"Commander! We must fall back!" Nonna shouted over the carnage of battle and the sound of the hollowing wind.

Katyusha growled, "Fine! Let me just concentrate on getting at least one measly kill with my new toy."

The KV-1S fired a shot straight at the Ferdinand but ricocheted off the frontal armor. She tried to then take down the Jagdtiger and with success, knocked it out by firing at it's side.

"Ha Ha!" she laughed triumphantly, "Take that, you moving pile of shi-"

"Commander, we need to go now!" called the SU-100 Commander.

With that being said, the forces of the Panzerfahren Peacekeepers fell back to the shore at which they had came from. Aboard the floaters, they picked off two Jagdpanzer IV's at the rivers edge. The Panzer IV fired a lucky far ranged shot and knocked out another T-34-85.

Stay behind the rubble until they've reached a certain distance." Yukari said to her crew.

"Listen up! If you've got any SAT-25 RAIN shells to fire off, use some now and save the rest for later." instructed Erwin.

When the crews heard this, they all started loading up on SAT-25 RAIN's and began shooting them at the river. However, with the metal floaters already at a safe distance, not a single specialized shell hit its target. A few minutes passed and all of Pravda's crew had reached the other side of the river. When they got settled in, Katyusha came stomping through the snow towards her army.

"I can't believe that you all just ditched out on me like that!" Katyusha wailed while flaying her arms up and down vicariously.

Everyone kept their mouth closed, fearing that saying something would have them punished. Across the river, Erika was watching through Yukari's personal portable telescope at Pravda's leader freaking out.

"Heh, how amusing to see that shorty over there cry like a baby." Erika laughed.

"Calm down, Erika-san. Don't attract so much attention to yourself." Maho frowned, "How many did we lose?"

"According to my calculations, we lost a Panther, two Jagdpanzer IV's, a Jagdpanther and the Jagdtiger."

"Verdammt! They got one of our better vehicles." Erwin groaned.

"Thankfully, they didn't get our Flag Tank." mentioned the Maus Commander pointing to one of the Panthers.

"Looks like we are going to be here for a while." groaned Yukari crossing her arms.

"Right. Someone help me get a fire going." Koume asked.

The snow from above was starting to fall down on top of the battlefield in a hard downpour. All of the girls on Black Forest fled into the buildings that were near their location on the shore. Pravda, on the other hand, fled to a nearby massive cliff bunker, where they all took shelter from the snowstorm inside the tunnels of the hill. There they all sat, waiting for the storm to blow over and for the cease fire to end.

However, just because it was a cease fire, did not mean that there couldn't be any action during it...


	12. Chapter 12 - Drastic Measures

The snow kept falling from the heavy dark clouds that hung above the battlefield in the night sky. While waiting around, Erwin checked the thermometer on the side of her teams StuG III for the tempature.

"Current temprature is almost forty degrees?" Erwin annouced.

Almost all the girls nearby groaned, with the exception of Koume Akaboshi and a few others who were shivering instead.

"Let's face it. We are all going to freeze out here." grumbled Erika.

"Cheer up." Yukari smiled, "At least we're warm around the fire."

In the distanse, Maho returned to her tank.

"The thickness of the snow is also getting the best of us." she said.

"I wonder if this is going to be like last year." Erika sighed.

"Maybe a little more servere." said another girl sitting around the fire, "This is basically Pravda High conditions we are dealing with here."

"Back to what I was saying about 'Cold Climates'." Maho reminded.

The girls of Kuromorimine all sat in a big circle around the raging fire that they had made and began to think about their next strategy for attacking Pravda. For a while, they all just sat there, gazing at the fire and listening to the hollowing of the wind. Some of the girls of Black Forest Peak wondered what Pravda was doing at the same time.

"Im hungry." said a girl from one of the Panther teams.

Yukari got up from her place around the fire and looked into the ration bags.

"We don't really have much." she said.

"Save the food until we are really hungry." Erwin instructed, "That way, there's enough for everyone."

Maho stood in the snow for a while before she remembered something. She walked to her Tiger I and pulled out a leather bookbag that was hanging on a rack inside the turret. Once she collected her gear, she wondered over to Yukari.

"Akiyama-san, may I have a word with you?"

Yukari's face began to turn pale at the sound of this. She slowly got up from her spot and walked over to Maho.

"Let us go for a little walk, shall we?" Maho adressed in a reassuring voice.

"Of course, Kommandant?" Yukari smiled, realizing that she wasn't in trouble.

As the two walked away, Maho turned back to Erwin.

"I need you and Itsumi-san to go inspect our enemies positions. When your finished, report back here."

"As you wish, Kommandant." Erika nodded.

"Understood." Erwin replied tipping her hat forward.

The two friends walked through a building and out into the snowy streets of the war torn city, away from the river. Once Maho and Yukari had travelled a certain distance away from the others, Maho sat on top of a burnt out car, while Yukari stood in front of her and looked up. The Nishizumi Captain felt her stomach twist as she opened the bookbag that she brought along with her.

"What's the matter, Kommandant? You look very worried."

"You have waited a long time for this and now, I'm going to show it to you." Maho said pulling out a piece of folded paper.

"Is that the note from Nishizumi-dono?" Yukari gasped.

Maho didn't know that Yukari called Miho by that name, however, she didn't ask Yukari what it meant.

"Indeed, it is." Maho sighed while carefully unfolding the letter, "I have reframed myself from reading it until now. So, I will read it to you since we are alone."

"Please! I have been dying to find out what that letter says."

Maho finished unfolding the paper and began to read the message to Yukari word by word.

"Dear Mother, I know that it has been a good deal of time since I have last spoke with you and my sister, but this message that I have sent is very urgent."

"Urgent? Why is it so urgent?" Yukari wondered.

Maho continued, "Times have been very tough here in Ooarai. Our Tankery Class and other academic clubs have been slowly decreasing day by day and our money problem with Saunders University High has affected us heavily. As you would expect, things are not going very well. Recently, there has been an annoucment at school, confirming the closure of the school in a few weeks and the overall desolation of the ship. I feel somewhat fearful once I heard this, because I have no place to stay once this takes effect."

Yukari began to bite her fingernails as Maho paused.

"Your school was closing down?" Maho asked.

"Like I said when we first met." Yukari mentioned.

Maho kept on reading, "As you have probably guessed by now, this letter is a message reaching out to you for support. I believe that I am on my own once Ooarai is closed down and I might not have a place to stay because of this. I am desperately calling out to you, Mother, with one simple request..."

Both girls produced a small choking sound in their throats.

"May I please return to the Nishizumi Household."

"Home!" Yukari bursted, "She wanted to come home."

"Unbeleivable. Why did she kill herself, though?" Maho wondered.

Her hands were shaking after she finshed reading, causing the paper to fall out of her hands. Then, Yukari pointed to the ground.

"Look! There's another paper!" she exclaimed.

Maho thought to herself before bending down to pick up the papers that had been dropped.

"My copy?" Maho read with question, "This looks like my mot-"

She stopped right as she was about to say mother.

"This looks like the Instructors handwriting."

"Read it. It might be something important." Yukari chanted.

Maho slowly began to read the paper to herself. When her eyes began to skim the bottom portion of the paper for clues, she began to tear up. Yukari became uncomfortable by this and asked what was wrong.

"Oh." Maho covered her eyes, "You don't want to know."

The Nishizumi Heiress dropped the paper in the snow and began to cry out loud. Yukari was speechless at the sight of seeing such a serious person like Maho, suddenly start sobbing. She picked up the paper and read it herself. In no less than 15 seconds later, Yukari too, began to cry.

"All she wanted to do was to come home! She only wanted to do what was best for her loved ones!" Yukari wailed tearing up Shiho's copy of the paper denying Miho's return.

"Why would mother do something so cruel? So wicked?" Maho whimpered as the cold wind stung her cold cheeks and wet eyes.

"Mother? Mother?! That was your Mother?!" Yukari screamed in a hoarse and angry voice, "You never mentioned that that was Mother!"

Maho slowly came to a stand.

"I'm afraid that she is not just my mother, but the mother of all of us now." Maho sniffed.

Yukari was speechless. She couldn't believe everything that was happening to her. The Ugly Truth, on top of the battle and on top of the freezing cold caused her to fall to her knees and produce a barely audible squeal. Maho lowered herself to the ground and tried to help her ally up. Pretty soon, Yukari was bawling in devastation from the news that she received. The two sat down in one of the buildings and both shared tears with each other as the storm continued.

Meanwhile, Erika and Erwin were further down river, holding out inside an old worn down apartment building. To keep themselves warm, the two started up a fire in the fireplace in one of the rooms. Even though the room they chose had no holes in the roof or walls, it was still cold.

"We should begin by spying through that window." Erwin insisted.

"Good Idea." Erika approved.

Very carefully, Erwin shattered the glass of the busted window and poked the telescope instrument out the opening. Erika kept watch at the door, to make sure nobody that wasn't welcome was following them. Erwin grumbled to herself when she pulled away from the window.

"I can barely see anything."

"Ja, I would expect." Erika replied, "There's a damn blizzard outside right now."

"Perhaps, when the winds begin to settle down again, we can do some more observing."

The two sat down in the middle of the room and stared down at the floor.

"What do you think those threats are doing across the river right now?" Erika asked.

"Plotting and planning, I suppose." Erwin shrugged.

"You seem like a fine Commander. Tell me a little more about yourself."

Erwin was surprised that anyone would want to hear what she had to say about history or tanks, but she remembered that her and her ally were stuck in the middle of a match, while a storm was blowing about outside.

"What would you like to hear first?" Erwin asked.

"Your tactics." Erika answered, "Tell me what makes your tactics as good as the Kommandants."

"Tactics are very important, especially when your up against a dangerous enemy like Pravda High."

Erika suddenely realized that she was about to reveive a lecture, rather than a straight forward answer to a question. She yawned as she sat back and listened to what Erwin had to say. In the building where Yukari and Maho were in, the two were talking quietly with each other about random topics. Both of them were gazing in the opposite directions of each other.

"Tell me more about this Nishizumism that you were told about."

"Its kind of complex, but its like a new way of thinking for our school." Maho said, "I can't bring myself to think what it will look like when its completely fufilled."

"I don't really like the sound of it. It sort of creeps me out." Yukari shivered.

"Why do you think its bad?" Maho asked.

"It reminds about the day when we beat Pravda. I wonder where all the girls in those buses went? Where do you think they were going?"

"I don't really know exactly. Probably nowhere bad."

Yukari stomped her foot on the staircase, "Well, one of those KCAF Girls told me that I will never see them ever again!"

"That girl was probably fooling with you. Even girls from Kuromorimine can be ignorant-"

Yukari interrupted, "No no no. Im telling you that she was serious when she told me this."

"Well, it now sounds like my next job that I'm going to take on." Maho said, "I hope that the answer I find is helpful."

"Your Mother... I mean, our Instructor is really strict." Yukari said correcting herself.

"She has always been a little prideful of herself." Maho sighed, "Its just something that we all have to get used to."

The two yawned.

"Tired?" Maho asked.

"Yeah, and a little cold too." Yukari answered letting her eyes close for a moment.

"Try your best to get some sleep, we can talk more about this after the match is over."

Both girls streched themselves on the staircase and tried to dose off the best they could. Yukari curled up on the stair and leaned her head against the wall. Maho looked down at her feet and attempted to kick the snow out the top of her cold boots.

"Kommandant?" Yukari whispered.

"Huh?"

"Did you and Miho have a good friendship together?"

Maho sadly smiled, "We had a very close relationship with each other. Especially, when we were younger. She would always follow me around and ask me what I was doing. She always wished that she could grow up faster, so we could ride in tanks together."

"How much did you love her?" Yukari whispered again.

A tear came to Maho's eye, "More than any other sister in the world."

"That's nice." Yukari answered smacking her lips together.

Maho wiped her eyes as she heard Yukari finally doze off to sleep. She slowly got up and walked outside. For a while, Maho stood out in the snow, letting the small white flacks settle on her shoulders and head. From within the depths of her conscience, Maho could hear the voices of her and Miho from long ago.

"I want to ride a tank, too!" said the small happy voice of a younger Miho, "I want to become just like Onee-Chan: Gentle and Cool!"

"Like me, you say?" echoed the voice of a younger Maho, "Let's see...After Miho becomes a bit bigger."

"When that time comes, we will ride together." Maho murmured, "Thats what I always said."

The Captain of Black Forest Peak returned to the building and found Yukari still sleeping where Maho had left her. Sitting herself down, Maho suddenely felt Yukari's head fall on her lap. At first, she was stunned by how much of a heavy sleeper Yukari was, but eventually, Maho eased up. She placed her hands on Yukari's head and smiled.

"You will be fine, my dear friend." Maho whispered, "Nothing bad will come your way."

Back at the apartment building, Erwin was finally finishing up her anwser about the tactics she uses.

"...And this concludes my answer to your question about what tactics I use in combat." Erwin ended short of breath.

"Are you done yet? We have enemies to keep our eyes opened for." Erika groaned.

Erwin walked over to the window and looked outside. From across the way, she found herself staring at a KV-2 and a KV-1S pointing their guns in her direction. She gulped as she backed away from the window. From a distanse, Maho heard the sound of cannon fire. The explosion caused Maho to flinch, while the jolt caused Yukari to wake from her snooze and fall down the stairs on her bottom. When she got up from her fall, she mumbled with pain.

"Do I hear gunfire?" Yukari asked.

"Yes. We must return to the group." Maho confirmed.

"Damnit! What is going on!?" Erika exclaimed.

Erwin looked out of the telescope at the other side of the river. On the shorelines, the remaining Pravda tanks were firing random shots at Kuromorimines side of the river, attempting to force Black Forest Peak out of their hiding spots and into the open.

"Do you see any coming across?" Erika asked covering her head.

"Negatory!" Erwin shouted, "Just enemy vehicles firing from across the way."

"We need to get back to the teams. They might be in disorder."

Back on the frozen shoreline, the firefight was beginning to intensify. Behind the fog that had settled over the river, an enormous shining light penetrated through the mist. Pravda was finally coming back across the river again and Kuromorimine wasn't ready.

"Where in the world are our main commanders at?" asked a girl inside one of the tanks.

"I have no idea, but we have to go looking for them." said another girl.

"The enemy is coming closer and closer by the minute and you want to go running out looking for them!?"

Soon, a fiery arguemet of yelling and insults broke out across the fire, until another loud boom from across the water hit the shoreline. From the smoke, a white flag popped out of a elimanated Panther.

"Excellent!" Katyusha exclaimed with joy, "You got another one."

Nonna moved her face away from the Gunners Scope and sighed, "Waiting for your next orders, Comrade Katyusha."

Maho, Yukari, Erwin and Erika finally returned to the others just as Pravda was about to hit the frozen beach. Once she was back inside her Tiger I, Maho began giving out orders. The crews began to retreat up the coast edge and up onto the streets behind several burnt out buildings. The Pravda tanks began to storm out of the water carrier and onto the land. From the higher elevation, Kuromorimine had the advantage. They simply began to fire shots down onto the fortified beach and began blowing away vehicle after vehicle of Pravda's. Only a few minutes into the assault and there was smoke and disiel fuel everywhere. The black liquid stained the snow, turning the crisp clean white color into a mucky brown and black mixture.

Katyushas forces lost three T-34-85's and the schools KV-1. It seemed like all of the tanks were going to be lost, until a lucky shot from the distant SU-100 team knocked out a Panther. All the other teams began to shoot back and started to shake the foundation of Kuromorimines defenses. When she realized that her teammates couldn't handle the pressure anymore, Yukari got on the radio.

"All teams fall back and protect the Flag Tank!" she shouted.

Just like that, all the vehicles started to retreat. Pravda began the trechourous treak up the hill.

"This is the Flag Tank team." reported a girl from one of the Panthers, "Where do you want us to hide?"

"Go to the square!" shouted Erika, "We are planning to hold out there."

Meanwhile, a few Black Forest tanks began to storm across the snow covered city to the edge of the map, where they prepared for Pravda to come up the coastline further down the way. However, what the squads didn't know, was that Pravda already had forces that had punched through that sector and were flanking the city limits to strike their enemies from behind. The Kuromorimine girls noticed this, when a T-34 knocked out Koume and her teams Panzer III from a distanse.

"They're behind us! Turn your vehicles around!"

Two more Jagdpanzer IV's swiftely turned their hulls around and continued firing. Kicking up snow from the ground, the enemy team drove pass them into cover. In the city, the fighting began to intensify even more. While digging in for the fight, Kuromorimine managed to scare Pravda away with their heavy armor. With almost the entire team retreating to cover, Katyusha gave Nonna the word to hold her fire. Protected by the cover of two collapsed building, the girls waited for Black Forest Peak to make their move, but nothing happened. Minutes passed and still nothing.

"I'm beginning to lose my patience with all of you. Go out there and destroy them!" Katyusha shouted.

"Oh, Comrade Katyusha. The enemy is litterally waiting for us around the corner, though."

"Pravda Protocol - Double Two Seven, you fools! Don't forget about it or else!"

Even though that Kuromorimine was not coming their way, Pravda sent a scouting group of girls out into the open war torn square to investigate Kuromorimines positions. Quick to react to this, Maho ordered the Maus crew to fire a shot into the sky to scare away the pesky scouting party. Successfully, the super heavy prototype frightened the scouts and sent them running back in the opposite direction.

"Nonna! Which tank belongs to those girls out there!?" Katyusha viciously demanded.

"The T-28, Great Comrade Katyusha." Nonna answered calmly.

"Wonderful, blow it to smitherings!" Katyusha returned in a bitter and sarcastic tone.

Pretty soon, the sound of cannon fire filled the air and Pravda's T-28 Medium layed as a smoking heap between the buildings.

"That...That right there, is what will happen if you don't follow the Pravda Protocol - Double Two Seven! Now, come together and let's think of a plan!"

With cannons poking out of snowy trench holes, Black Forest Peak waited with much anticipation for Pravda to peer their heads out from the buildings. Above the buildings, Maho and the others noticed the color of the burning morning sun beginning to rise above the buildings.

"Morning has come, Kommandant." said Erwin.

"Very well. This will be their last stand." Maho replied checking her watch.

The sound of the wind howling across the snow and mud covered square caused shivers to travel down everyone's spine, for they did not know about what was going to happen. Katyusha and the remaining tanks of Pravda lined up at the end of one side of the square and waited. Erika and a few others were about to shoot them, but Maho told her platoon to hold their fire. In the distance, Katyusha and Nonna were seen talking to one another about something, but Maho and the others couldn't hear what it was.

"All units, choose your targets carefully and prepare to fire on my mark." Yukari instructed.

Across the square, their was a loud chanting sound, followed by a flood of Pravda tanks storming through the mud. When the firing began, the Maus had taken position in the front of Kuromorimine and began to fire at the destroyed barricades Pravda was using as cover for their advance. Nonna's IS-2 suddenely sped out of protective cover and started for the buildings, causing the Maus to follow her. While in the open, the girls of Pravda started to try and flee from the area, but Katyusha forced them to keep advancing.

The Maus came in contact with the KV-2 while trying to pursuit Nonna and fired a powerful round past the heavy. The force rocked the tank back and forth, but failed to hit it. The round from the Maus's opposer managed to slightly damaged the prototype, however, the enormous metal monster returned fire and blasted the side of the KV-2 away, eliminated it. The round also caused the left track to fly off the tank and into the air.

"Nonna!" Katyusha squeaked from behind the other tanks, "Your our Flag Tank, so don't die!"

"Understood." she replied.

"Kommandant, the enemy is not coming out from cover!" Erika called.

"Keep the pressure on them and they will eventually come out." Maho ordered.

In the narrow streets of the battlefield, Nonna kept persuading the Maus to follow her. After an exchange of shots, the IS-2 fled to another street. Slowly and slowly, the Maus's shells kept getting more and more accurate to Pravda's Flag Tank.

"This isn't good, Commander." cried the IS-2's Radio Operator.

"Have courage, Comrade." Nonna reassured, "We will stop this threat."

Storming down a long narrow street, Nonna and her crew noticed two friendly T-34's at the other end.

"Comrade Nonna, turn left!" screamed one of the T-34 Commanders.

With quick reflexes, Pravda's Vice Captain ordered the IS-2 Driver to turn left. The heavy tank swerved its hull to the left and drifted into cover. The Maus, who was preoccupied with the other T-34's at the end of the street, continued down the road. The crew was completely unaware of the hazard that layed ahead on the road.

Out of nowhere, the giant tank began to descend into the thick sleet. The frontal nose of the super heavy started to also slide into the white slippery trap.

"Back up!" screamed the Maus Commander, "Back us up now!"

It was too late. The next thing they knew, the Maus was falling downwards and finally, slammed its nose onto the ground. The sound of the crashing noise filled the air, as the tank came crashing down onto the ground with its turret upside down and it's cannon bent in half. The pressure against the fuel tank from the impact caused a flood of hot steaming oil to splash out all over the ground. From the perspective of everybody else, the Maus had fallen upside into a huge pit hidden by snow. Moreover, it was a large trap.

The event of the Maus falling into the trap and eliminating itself brought a sense of burning pride to the teams of Pravda High and caused them to let out a long loud shout of triumph mixed with anger.

"We have been eliminated." reported the Maus Radio Operator.

"We are all dead." Erika said spastically.

"If you are defending, make your defense as strong and as hard as iron!" Erwin exclaimed.

In a state of disorder and of fear in losing the game, the girls of Black Forest Peak began to back their tanks against the building behind them, preparing themselves for the unforgiving attack. A midst the chaos, Kuromorimine forgot about their Flag Tank and how unprotected it was to the enemy.

KA-BOOM!

There was a loud explosion and the Panther Flag Tank was found stuck in the snowy mess beneath its tracks. From behind the rubble of the building behind Kuromorimine, Nonna and the other T-34's poked their guns out from the structure.

"Fantastic! You have finished them off!" Katyusha shouted with glee.

"Its over." Yukari sadly answered.

While looking around at the worn torn battlefield, Maho realized that there were at least 12 tanks or so still standing. There was also another layer of fresh snow coming down from the crisp early morning sky. A group of Official vehicles came towards the two tankery teams, followed by the three main girl judges walking over to the crews.

"Greetings everybody." introduced a judge.

Another one of the three came forward, "Due to the mid-round tournament match, the winning school has the ability to make the other school do whatever they want them to do, as long as its appropriate, of course."

An evil smile ran across Katyusha's face.

"Yes, we will make the other team do what we want them to do."

With that being said, the judges began to load all of the tanks together to take them back to the staging areas. Feeling confident of their victory, the girls of Pravda slowly began to creep closer towards the surrounded girls of Kuromorimine.

"Anything we want, huh?" snickered the stout and arrogant leader, "I say we show these fools what true Pravda weather feels like. Anyone agree with me?"

None of the other girls answered.

Katyusha was furious, "I said, 'Does anyone agree with me!?' Say yes or I will have you purged as well!"

Just like that, all of the Pravda teams began to agree with their captain and started complimenting her as a hero.

"Oh, Great Comrade Katyusha, what shall we make these losers do?" the girls asked.

"Tread! I say we make them tread! Ten times around the map in the snow!" Katyusha boomed, "Afterwards, we will make them sit in the snow for an hour while we keep warm around a roaring fire!"

There was nothing that Kuromorimine could do to stop them, so they all had to tread ten times around the map. Even though it was day, there was no sun in the sky and the air was chilling with snowflakes and particles of ice. As the girls of Black Forest Peak walked through ankle deep snow, they began to wonder if their Captain was the main reason for them faltering during the last few games, while others simply called it bad luck or misfortune.

After a miserable march through the cold, they were told to sit in the snow and watch as Pravda Cossack danced around a large victory fire. The warm breath from their mouths and their body heat was the only real source of warmth that Kuromorimine had.

"Damn them!" Erika cursed, "How do they live in this Hell?"

"They're specialized in this sort of combat. To them, its like a stroll across No Mans Land during a cease fire." Erwin shivered.

"Kommandant, I'm cold." Koume shook.

"Don't worry." Maho replied, "We will get through this."

Maho turned to Yukari, who was sitting alone and silently reading the paper that Miho had written. From the looks of it, Akiyama was still having a tough time accepting the fact that not only her dearest friend was gone, but also that the old way of Panzerkraft on Ooarai was dead as well. Maho's face became downcast as she waited for Black Forest Peaks penalty to end.

Upon returning to the school, the Tankery team felt like they have suffered a heavy defeat from their foes. Maho and Yukari felt worse compared to the others, mostly due to the fact that the two have unveiled the truth to each other. They felt like traitors to their allies, but also felt special and somewhat fortunate to know such secretive information. Shiho Nishizumi, who was standing slightly limped over and aged, met with all of the girls in the tank hangar. Shortly afterwards, Kikuyo and a few KCAF Girls entered with the students as well. Once they had all flooded into the garages and have seated themselves comfortably, Shiho told everyone to sit on top of their vehicles.

"Failure has been a common nemesis for the Sisterhood of Iron Will. However, you girls should feel a sense of pride for yourselves."

The Tankery team all looked at each other with emotionless stares. Midoriko 'Sodoko' Sono, leader of the KCAF Girls Club, stepped forward with her clipboard in hand.

"You should all be proud of yourselves. The problem from within our education system has been decreased by ten fold. While you girls were away, our school has been very active at completing this large assignment."

"There was a rally yesterday, where the students of the school were destined to make a better campus for all of us. Would you girls like to see a clip of these events?" Kikuyo asked.

After an overwhelming agreement from the crowd, a large television screen was displayed from the top of garage entrance. When the blue screen and static had ceased, an image appeared of a multitude of Kuromorimine school girls waving banners and flags in front of the Main Administrative Building. On a second floor platform that was recently built, Shiho was seen coming out dressed in an expensive gray and black womans business suit and a long tan jacket around herself. She was accompanied by Kikuyo, Sodoko and the entire Kuromorimine Girls High School Student Council.

There were banners on the sides of the Administrative Building that talked about labeling the "Slackers" and the "Feeble Minded" as a group of students that were causing problems for the school. Then, a woman's voice from the video began to speak.

"The ousting of the troublesome students of Kuromorimine has almost reached its goal. The school is now taking much more heavier measures in dealing with the problem."

The image flashed to a classroom where a teacher was watching her students work while she patrolled the room with a large yard stick in her hand. The teacher noticed a student peering over at another students work, causing the teacher to slam the ruler upon the desk. Then, the girl was escorted out of the room by a KCAF Girl.

"Even though the problem is still at large, your staff, teachers and fellow KCAF Club is doing their best in dealing with the problem students."

The image flashed to a long line of girls being let out of school buses into a fenced in campus. They went into a large building at the end of the compound and took their seats in a classroom.

"Though they are trouble to us now, they won't be forever. Thanks to the decision made by our great principle, Mrs. Nishizumi, we are able to work together to find a solution."

The video came to a scene where a group of girls in the compound are preparing themselves for their daily lessons.

"As you can see, these girls were rebellious and troublesome when they have first arrived on one of the many specialized teaching campuses located on Kuromorimine. Now, after a few months of lessons and drills, they are better than ever."

Around her, Yukari could her the voices of other girls agreeing with what the video was telling them. The movie came to a scene where a Kuromorimine Civil Administrative Forces Girl and a Compound Girl were seen having a conversation to each other about how great the school was compared to Saint Gloriana's.

"Here is another good example of what the teachings for the "Slacker" and "Feeble Minded" has done to them. They have learned to have a proper conversation with this KCAF Girl and how to answer with a proper response and a meaningful discussion topic."

The video concluded with another shot of Shiho talking to the students in an assembly about the school in general.

"Remember, our Principle and her advisors are your best friends. Don't forget to also favor our Student Council for their great choices and precise decision making for us and other students here at Kuromorimine Girls High School."

The video ended with the playing of the schools new anthem and with the words: **RULE AND CONQUER**, flashing across the screen. The Panzerkraft Teams began to burst into conversation about the information that they were just fed to. Many of them began to comment on how great their Principle was and how they should react when they caught a student acting out of their place. Even Erwin and Koume Akaboshi began to chat with a few other students about how great the ongoing agenda of Kuromorimine's Student Council was and how it would improve down the road later on.

Out of all of the girls in crowd, Maho Nishizumi and Yukari Akiyama were silent over the matter. For they will soon learn that Black Forest Peaks current agenda will have a much more negative impact on the girls than what they have expected.


End file.
